For nearly 80 years, the remains of the building used by the fighter squadrons of the 2nd Aviation Regiment were overgrown with vegetation. Now Hangar No. 5, built on the site of its predecessor and incorporating a relic wall from the original structure, will become home to a new permanent exhibition of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
The new hangar is the largest exhibition space built during the museum’s existence. It has an area of over 3,000 m2 with a mezzanine and will be used to make nearly 40 unique aircraft, including gliders, available to visitors. It will be a place for building cultural identity, exhibiting collections and education for residents of Małopolska, Poland and guests from around the world. — says Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
Watch the film showing the successive stages of this investment, important for the Museum and the Małopolska Region:
The new hangar was built on the site of the former Hangar No. 5 of the 2nd Aviation Regiment, which was used by the fighter group squadrons: the 121st and 123rd. The original Hangar No. 5 was located within the Western Hangar Group and was designed by the Upper Silesian Industrial Society as a single-nave steel structure measuring 55 m × 56 m. Its designer was engineer Bronisław Kowalski, and the construction manager and author of the detailed designs was Prof. Eng. Izydor Stella-Sawicki. The automated steel hangar doors were designed by engineer Ignacy Brach. Completed in 1929, it was considered among the largest and most modern structures of its type in the world. It became one of the symbols of the 2nd Aviation Regiment’s Kraków airfield.
After the period of German occupation, in January 1945, the retreating invaders destroyed the airfield infrastructure by blowing up the hangars. After the war, two were rebuilt, including the Museum’s Main Hangar. In the western hangar group, only building relics survived, including the western wall of Hangar No. 5 — which now forms an integral element of the new hangar.
On 20 April 2023, the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków signed an agreement with the Marshal’s Office of the Małopolska Region for the implementation of the investment “Heksagon — construction of a hangar for the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków”. The general contractor, selected through a tender process, was Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlano-Produkcyjne Łęgprzem Sp. z o.o., based in Kraków.
The preparatory phase of the construction began with archaeological work involving the manual cleaning and photographic documentation of the remains of the historic Hangar No. 5. As part of these activities, along the southern wall of the hangar, remains of a post-German annexe were discovered that had not been previously inventoried.
The actual construction work began in summer 2023. On 5 October 2023, a ceremonial cornerstone laying took place. After 16 months of construction, on 30 August 2024, the building acceptance of the new hangar was completed.
The subject of the planned exhibition is civil aviation with particular emphasis on the sporting achievements of Polish aviators from the 1930s onwards. Approximately 40 large-scale objects — gliders and aircraft — will be presented at the exhibition. The exhibition will be complemented by interpretive elements in the form of scenographic installations, educational objects and display stands, panels and descriptions — also in interactive form. The project also includes a special multimedia attraction: a glider flight simulator and a hang glider flight simulator.
The layout and manner of displaying the aircraft will reference the exhibition trends of the 1920s. As a result of this approach, visitors’ attention will be focused on the unique, restored gliders.
We continuously acquire new exhibits through donations or deposits from aviators and their families, collectors and aviation enthusiasts. Therefore, we encourage the donation of memorabilia related to sports, passenger, agricultural, rescue or recreational aviation, in particular: sports trophies, photographs, documents, badges, decorations, uniforms and flight suits, as well as written memoirs — encourages Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
The opening of the new permanent exhibition is planned for autumn 2025.
The investment received co-funding from the Government Fund “Polski Ład”: Strategic Investment Programme, Edition II, in the amount of PLN 22,140,000 gross. The own contribution and the costs of managing the investment process were covered by the Małopolska Region. The total cost of the hangar construction amounted to PLN 26 million.
General contractor: Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlano-Produkcyjne Łęgprzem, based in Kraków
Designers: Warsztat Form, Proarchivision
