The first museum-quality collections began to be assembled in the Library of the then August Cieszkowski Agricultural Academy by its director, Wacław Sokołowski. He was the initiator and ardent advocate of establishing a Museum at the Library, an idea he had been pursuing since the late 1970s. In the second half of the 1990s, the initiative to further develop the Museum was taken over by the Alumni Association. The then President of the Association, Jan Baier, made an outstanding contribution to revitalising the Museum’s activities. Thanks to the Association’s funds, an exhibition room and a small storage facility were equipped.
The permanent exhibition of the Museum illustrates the history of the University and preserves its traditions. All exhibits were donated by alumni and staff of the Poznań University of Life Sciences. The exhibition is organized chronologically.
The Museum of the Poznań University of Life Sciences, located at ul. Wojska Polskiego 69, holds more than 3,000 museum objects, including:
- valuable documents
- photographs
- albums
- medals and decorations
- memorabilia
- herbaria
- lecture notes and course programmes
- account books
- biographies
- identity cards connected with the history of the University and its distinguished scholars and graduates
Every item has an individual catalogue record. The Museum’s collections form a unique documentation of the University’s history, traditions and academic achievements from its very beginnings to the present day.
This is an extremely important heritage of the University and an invaluable source of knowledge about the history of life sciences in Poland.
Among the most precious artifacts are:
- Documents concerning the activities of the State Horticultural School in the interwar period
- Original account book of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry from the 1920s and 1930s
- Photographs and documents from the Agricultural School in Żabikowo
- Copies of minutes from meetings of the Higher School of Agriculture Commission
- Galleries of photographs of deans of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of Poznań University who served in the years 1919–1950
- Photograph of the Faculty Council of Agriculture and Forestry of Poznań University (1925/1926) with original signatures
- Reproductions of photographs of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry buildings in Sołacz
- Lists of students of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
- Original photographs of Poznań University professors – pioneers of agricultural and forestry sciences: Stanisław Runge, Zygmunt Adolf Mocarski-Moczarski, Mieczysław Pańkowski, Tadeusz Vetulani
- Photographs of professors Józef Rivoli, Julian Rafalski, Witold Kulesza, Feliks Terlikowski, Mikołaj Kwinichidze, Bolesław Kuryłowicz, Zygmunt Pietruszczyński, Karol Zaleski and Władysław Smosarski, as well as students and graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry