Overview

Oskar Schindler (of Schindler's List fame) Enamel Factory now hosts 2 museums, Historical Museum of the City of Krakow and Museum of Contemporary Art. This review is just about the Krakow Museum.

Transport & Parking

I took a taxi to the museum. I didn't notice any close by tram stops. On the way back I asked the driver at the taxi rank to take me back to my hotel he wanted to charge 48 Polish zloty, about £10, which was more than double the 22PZ/ £4.50 I paid on my way there. I felt the taxi drivers were taking advantage of my visible disability and I decided to walk back. It took me about 10 minutes to reach Heroes Square, where there are trams, it was a level walk and it also involves walking under a railway bridge, which felt safe during the day on my own, as other people were about. I would suggest if you need a taxi pre-booking one.

Access

The museum's own website has access information but it is only in Polish. I've put it through Google Translate and it says "Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory. The Krakow exhibition - the time of occupation in 1939-1945 at the Schindler's factory branch was made available for viewers with sight and hearing disabilities. This is the first venture of this type in the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow, prepared in cooperation with the Cultural Foundation without Barriers and the Foundation for Children with Help in the framework of the project Outside the Silence and Darkness project co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. For the deaf and hard of hearing people, video translations (for sign language) and subtitles for selected multimedia presentations and films have been prepared, as well as a guide to the sounds of the exhibition, which form its integral part, and without which its reception is incomplete." They also have MP3 FILES WITH A AUDIODESCRIPT FOR DOWNLOAD. My brain has gone blank about the entrance, I think there were automatic doors. Inside I was booked on a tour, but for those visiting there is a ticket counter and gift stall, with counters at standing height. The tour guide showed me where the lift was and I met the group on the 1st floor. The exhibition space is located on the 1st and 2nd floors, when we finished at the 1st floor the guide walked us all up the stairs, as I was slow and always at the back of the group I was unable to ask if there was lift access. Then later we went back to the ground floor again using the stairs. The stairs, see photo, had handrail on one side and were quite steep. When I finished the tour I went back to the ticket desk and explained I would be writing an access review and confirmed arrangements. The lift can be used to both floors but is a bit tucked away and difficult to find but it is available. The exhibition itself tells the story of Krakow's Jewish community pre to post World War II. The exhibition is excellent in terms of information and conveying the horrors of what happened. However there were a few access problems I experienced. Some of the exhibition space is narrow in places, as well as our group there were people trying to over take our group and also in my own group there were people pushing past me to get to the front. I lost count after my crutch had been knocked and lifted off the floor on the forth occasion by passers by, given the significance of the place we were in I would have thought people may have been a bit more considerate. The exhibition area is themed in palaces, while this is a nice touch, it hasn't been done with thought for people with mobility disabilities. At one place the room is like a quarry, and this includes bits of grit/ stones on the floor. Worst still was another room, which the guide warned the group of before but which wasn't signposted, it had a strange floor. It was soft and wobbly to give the visitor a sense of disorientation similar to how people experienced World War II, but I felt very unsafe on it and left like I was going to fall over, this room also had lower level lighting. I feel this room should have a notice on it warning people about it, as a disabled person it felt dangerous until I got used to how it moved.

Toilets

There was an accessible toilet with grab rails but no emergency alarm. Toilet was quite spacious and clean.

Staff

The staff in the ticket office at the end of the tour were very helpful in informing me of the disabled access. The tour guide I was with was considerate at first but then appeared to forget she had someone in her group with a mobility impairment. I'm not sure if she was one of the guides from the museum or independent, although her subject knowledge was excellent, her disability awareness could improve.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

If you are planning to visit the museum book ahead via the museum website, as they only allow a few people in each day and at time I visited Mondays were free but you still needed to pre-book. The museum sells out quickly and in my case I was left to find a pre-booked tour so instead of paying £5 to go into the museum I ended up paying about £12 for a guided tour, when I would have preferred to have explored the museum on my own. By the way Schindler's List is not in the museum but you can see his desk. Despite the access problems I would definitely visit again. Please don't let my review up you off, I just want you to know what to expect. The museum is full of fascinating and well presented information. It's amazing to visit Schindler's factory, see his desk and most importantly photos of the people that were on his list and who he helped to safety.

Photos