In the first part,
there is presented painting work, completed with relics and photographs. This all creates a portrait of a 19th-century provincial Galician town and its inhabitants, facing up to the turmoil of the turn of the century, both world wars and totalitarian systems. The especially unique addition to the exhibition is a fortepiano from the Pleyel family’s Parisian manufactory, produced in 1862. Their instruments fulfilled the high requirements of Fryderyk Chopin and repeatedly won international industrial exhibitions, just like the model in the Museum. It is one of the oldest relics of the Chopin era in Poland, an original and fully operational cosy fortepiano of its class.
This vibe is introduced by the portrait painting and vedute. Numerous examples of photographs, prints and other museum collections document the functioning of the bourgeois and landowning environment during the time of the Galician autonomy and the Second Polish Republic.
There are emphasized patriotic-independence threads too. They proclaim that the residents of this region took part in fights for homeland freedom during the Napoleonic times, Springtide of Nations, January Uprising and years 1914-1921, including the defence of Lviv and Polish-Bolshevik war. This content is documented by patriotic jewellery, commemorative objects, documents, photographs, whiteware and firearms.
against the background of a rich display of militaria, the September campaign, the independence conspiracy, the ZWZ-AK, martyrdom, and for the post-war period, the activity of the anti-communist underground are presented. The enthusiasts find a collection of short and long firearms interesting. Apart from a rich collection of foreign-made weapons, examples of Polish technical thought were presented, with the ViS wz 35 guns at the forefront. The exhibition closes with a collection of photographs, graphics and printed matters from the last years of Krosno’s life. There are stressed selected facts from the social-political and cultural life and accented the important events – the solidarity uprising (1980-1981), the beginning of third independence (1989-1990) and the stay of Pope John Paul II in the Krosno region (1997).
