From Mińska to Parade Square. The Neon Museum opens in its new home at the Palace of Culture and Science.

After a three-month hiatus, the Neon Museum opens on Friday in its new home at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. The institution moved to the city center from Praga-Północ. The opening will feature over 100 neon signs, including those from the "Bambino" milk bar, the former "Berlin" store, and the "Hansel and Małgosia" café.

"By returning to the Palace of Culture and Science, we are bringing our history full circle, as we organized our first neon exhibition there almost 20 years ago. Now we are returning to the Center with a much larger collection," said museum spokesman Witold Urbanowicz.

Since 2012, the Neon Museum has operated in Warsaw's Kamionek district , in the historic hall of the "Pocisk" Ammunition Plant, which later became a factory producing the iconic "Osa" scooters. The post-industrial apartment complex – Soho Factory – where the institution was headquartered is undergoing intensive transformation. It is soon to be rebuilt by the building's owner.

The Neon Museum in Warsaw moved to the Palace of Culture and Science / photo: private archive

At the exhibition, which opens the museum's new location at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw , the public will have the opportunity to view previously displayed illuminated signs, as well as new, restored signs, those previously in storage, and replicas. Visitors will see, among others, the neon sign of the "Bambino" milk bar with its distinctive cow, the "Biedronka" milk bar, the "Adria" restaurant, the Finnish bank Suomen Yhdyspankki, the Czechoslovakian flower neon sign, and the "Sezam" Cooperative Department Store.

The historic interior of the Palace of Culture and Science has been specially arranged and transformed to accommodate the neon displays. However, due to their varying technical condition, not all of them are illuminated.

"The larger space gives us more display options, although the historic interior of the Palace of Culture and Science also presents a challenge," the spokesman noted. "Due to conservation guidelines, the neon signs are not hung on the walls, but on specially constructed freestanding partitions," he explained.

He explained that the core of the exhibition will be permanent, just like in the old facility. It includes, among other things, the neon sign of the former "Berlin" store, the "Syrenka" (Mermaid) on a book – the symbol of Warsaw's public libraries, the neon sign of the Hotel Saski, and the neon signs from the "Szanghaj" and "Ambasador" restaurants, as well as the "Hansel and Małgosia" café.

"The most iconic is the 'Syrenka' (Mermaid). Although there are many such signs in Warsaw, our neon one is unique," Urbanowicz emphasized.

The Neon Museum in Warsaw moved to the Palace of Culture and Science / photo: private archive

Currently, the museum's collection includes over 200 neon signs from Poland and abroad, including Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Austria and China .

"The neon signs in our collection were designed by graphic designers and visual artists, also members of the world-renowned Polish School of Posters, as well as architects. These are not random advertisements, but high-level artistic expressions," he emphasized.

The last exhibition held in the old headquarters was "Designers of Light", dedicated to the creators of neon signs in the Polish People's Republic.

The Neon Museum's primary mission is to document and preserve neon signs—illuminated advertisements created after World War II. Its history began in 2005, when Ilona Karwińska, the institution's director , alongside David S. Hill, saved the 1975 "Berlin" neon sign from destruction, which was located above a shop on Marszałkowska Street.

In 2020, the Warsaw Neon Museum was recognized by readers of the British newspaper "The Guardian" as one of the 12 most interesting urban museums in Europe.

The Neon Museum is located in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw in the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Room on the fourth floor, accessible by elevator from the cloakroom level.