Warsaw's Chopin museum was wholly rethought Courtesy of Naradowy Instytut Fryderyk Chopin

Poland commemorated the 200th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s birth last week. In Warsaw, where the composer spent his formative years, the occasion was marked by the opening of a wholly rethought museum devoted to his life and work.

The Fryderyk Chopin Museum has been sited in the Ostrogski Castle in the city center since 1953, but the premises were rather modest, having been destroyed during the war and rebuilt. Meanwhile, the facility’s collection steadily expanded and the need arose for a larger, more advanced exhibition center.

The newly opened museum, by the Grzegory & Partnerzy Architekci studio, has been reborn as a multimedia museum and education center. Its space, including a concert hall, has nearly doubled.

The museum features more than 5,000 exhibits, among them autographed manuscripts and first editions of Chopin’s works, examples of the composer’s correspondence as well as numerous documents, paintings, graphics and sculptures. Part of the exhibition’s interior was arranged by Milan’s renowned Migliore + Servetto design studio.

“This is the most state-of-the-art biographical museum in Europe or in the world,” Culture Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski stated.

President Lech Kaczyński stressed that the museum was as needed as the Warsaw Rising Museum which opened in the capital in 2004.

“The Fryderyk Chopin Museum is an element of a policy that not everybody likes – a historical policy. We need, however, to show our identity to the world, and this includes not only the history of fighting … but also the history of Polish culture,” Mr Kaczyński said.

This month the museum will only be open to dedicated groups of visitors. It will become fully accessible to the public in April.