The name derives from the idea and concept of airfield construction from 1923, of French origin, combining the functions of a military base and a civilian airport. The central place was occupied by a circular take-off field with groups of hangars and a civilian air terminal arranged on a square or hexagonal plan. Its appearance in Poland is credited to Gen. Wlodzimierz Zagorski, commander of Department IV of Aerial Navigation of the Ministry of Military Affairs. In 1924-25, the main contribution to adapting the concept to Polish conditions was made by Capt. Eng. Adam Mrowka.
In the mid-1920s, the largest Polish airfields were selected for modernisation: Krakow-Rakowice, Deblin, Poznan-Lawica, and Torun. Also the planned new airfields at Okecie in Warsaw and Sknilow in Lwow were to have this layout. In 1925 in Krakow, a modern twin-nave hangar of reinforced concrete construction was completed, the first of the western group. Due to the high costs, further construction was abandoned in favour of single-nave hangars of steel construction measuring 55 m x 56 m, designed by the Upper Silesian Industrial Company. Their designer was Eng. Bronislaw 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 Eng. Ignacy Brach.
Completed in 1929, they were ranked among the largest and most modern structures of their kind in the world. They became one of the symbols of the Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield in Krakow. The unique roof was suspended from three external load-bearing arches of steel truss construction. This provided an unobstructed covered area of approximately 3,600 m2 for four fighter squadrons.
A total of six such structures were built at the Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield, five for the 2nd Aviation Regiment and one in 1931 for the Polish Airlines LOT. Nearly 30 hangars of this type were built in Poland out of approximately 100 planned.
The construction investment, initiated in 1925 by Col. Pilot Jerzy Boreyza, commander of the 2nd Aviation Regiment, at the Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield slowed after 1936 and was ultimately curtailed by the outbreak of World War II. From September 1939, the airfield, occupied by the Germans, was expanded (including a concrete runway and taxiway) and used for the needs of the Luftwaffe.
In January 1945, the retreating Germans caused serious damage to the airfield infrastructure, blowing up most of the hangars, for example. After the war, two were rebuilt, including the Museum’s Main Hangar. In the western hangar group, only relics of buildings survived, including the western wall of Hangar No. 5, hangar and apron slabs, and walls of the reinforced concrete Hangar No. 1-2.
For nearly 80 years, the Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield area mostly underwent gradual degradation, particularly after its closure in 1963. Gradual revitalisation was begun by the Museum in the 1990s.
Referencing the historic development plans for the airfield and the former Hangar No. 5, the Polish Aviation Museum — together with the Malopolska Region — planned the construction of a hangar-type exhibition hall with infrastructure and site development.
The aim of the investment is to strengthen the Museum’s infrastructure and showcase nearly 40 unique aircraft, including gliders. An exhibition hall with an area of 2,613 m2 and a mezzanine of 665 m2 will be built for the exhibition entitled “With the Wind and Against the Wind — Civil Aviation” about the role and achievements of civil aviation in Poland.
The own contribution and costs of managing the investment process will be covered by the Malopolska Region.
The total construction cost including management has been estimated at PLN 25.4 million gross.
Completion of construction is planned by July 2024.
In the late 1920s — the period of the airfield’s heyday — it encompassed an irregular area resembling a polygon. The expansion period, lasting from 1924, brought a nearly fourfold increase in area, over a dozen modern structures, including the Western Hangar Group and new residential buildings for personnel. Plans for further expansion into new areas were also drawn up at this time — mainly in the south-eastern direction.
The expansion of take-off areas began, which required the relocation of, among other things, a railway siding and the creation of a perimeter road system. The development of the Krakow airfield continued until around 1936. Just before the outbreak of war, the airfield had taken the form of a central layout, allowing take-offs and landings in multiple directions. In 1921-1939, the 2nd Aviation Regiment was stationed at the airfield.
Further expansion of the airfield was carried out by the German occupiers. Krakow (capital of the General Government) needed a large air base. The take-off fields were extended eastward and also widened to the north. By the end of 1944, levelling, drainage, road, and fortification works had been carried out. New concrete taxiways and roads were built. The Germans also began work on a concrete section of the runway.
During this time, the Krakow airfield began to take the form of a complex structure with a central layout connected to lateral branches, focusing precisely on the runway. The Germans, creating a rear base for Luftwaffe air operations, including on the Eastern Front, expanded the runway, whose concrete section in 1945 measured 1,065 m in length and 50 m in width. In the first week of January 1945, the Germans, retreating under pressure from the Red Army, blew up key elements of the airfield infrastructure, including 5 hangars (including one double) with a usable area of approx. 18,000 m2.
From January to autumn 1945, the airfield was in Soviet hands and used mainly by Soviet aviation. In October of that year, Polish fighter aviation regiments were stationed at Rakowice-Czyzyny, where in 1945/46 the command staff consisted mostly of Soviet officers and non-commissioned officers. In 1953, the concreting of the entire runway was completed; it measured 2,006 m in length and 52.6 m in width. The total length of concrete taxiways exceeded 5,000 m and had a surface area of over 100,000 m2. The total area of the entire airfield was 2,976,759 m2.
In 1949-53, it was possible to rebuild 2 of the 5 hangars destroyed by the Germans, including the present Main Hangar of the Museum. The airfield was used by squadrons of the People’s Air Force of the Polish Army (including the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment until 1955), Polish Airlines LOT, and the Krakow Aeroclub, and from 1957 also by the Air Ambulance Unit. In 1957, a new airport terminal was opened. According to data for 1961, nearly 40,000 passengers were handled at the Krakow airfield, and the following year this number rose to 56,000. The year 1963, another year of Nowa Huta’s expansion, brought the end of the Krakow-Czyzyny airfield, and its functions were taken over by Balice and Pobiednik Wielki. The airfield grounds were handed over for the construction of the Krakow University of Technology and a dual-carriageway arterial road that cut through the existing runway. A small section of the runway remained in the Museum’s use.
After 40 years of progressive degradation, the Polish Aviation Museum — which is the initiator and guarantor of maintaining spatial order in this area — restored limited aviation functions to this site. A partial runway renovation was carried out and a section of the taxiway was reconstructed. Since 2003, the registered airstrip EPKC has operated at the Polish Aviation Museum, with coordinates N50°05’03.4″ E19°59’25.8″.
Occasionally, aircraft, aviators, and the public once again use it, including participants of air shows and commemorative flyovers. The section used by the Museum and the Krakow University of Technology is nearly 740 m long. The concrete runway of the former airfield, listed in the register of monuments of the Malopolska Region, deserves special protection of its substance and function. It is a witness to the history of Polish Wings and an object of Polish technical museology.
The Southern Hangar Group comprised airfield buildings and structures built in 1931-1953. In 1931-32, two arched hangars, numbers 6 and 7, were erected for the fighter and auxiliary squadrons of the 2nd Aviation Regiment. In terms of construction, they were identical to the earlier structures nos. 3, 4, and 5, designed by Eng. Bronislaw Kowalski, which formed part of the Western Hangar Group. In 1935, the construction of a technical and storage support complex was completed, consisting of two single-storey halls and a multi-storey building located behind hangar no. 6. In these buildings, in addition to repair workshops, the Military Glider Workshops, led by Eng. Waclaw Czerwinski, also operated.
There, the WWS-1 Salamandra, WWS-2 Zaba, and WWS-3 Delfin gliders were developed and series-produced. The complex also included a boiler house, a railway ramp, and underground fuel tanks located in front of the hangars in its southern part. The last structure planned for the southern hangar group area was a modern engine test stand, located in its eastern part. Its construction was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. During the occupation in 1939-1945, the Germans expanded the airfield as a Luftwaffe base, particularly for attacks on the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.
On the grounds of the Southern Hangar Group, a single-storey office building was built, among other things, and the auxiliary infrastructure was expanded. In its western part, a concrete runway was built, with access from the individual hangar groups via a concrete taxiway. In January 1945, the Germans, retreating from Krakow, destroyed a significant part of the airfield infrastructure.
In 1949-53, it was possible to rebuild 2 of the 5 hangars destroyed by the Germans, including the present Main Hangar of the Museum. During the same period, a small parachute store building was constructed on the grounds of the Southern Hangar Group. With the arrival of jet aircraft, the concrete runway was extended westward. It measured 2,006 m in length and 52.6 m in width. A taxiway was built leading to it. The works were completed in 1953.
The airfield was used by squadrons of the People’s Air Force of the Polish Army (including the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment until 1955), Polish Airlines LOT, and the Krakow Aeroclub, and from 1957 also by the Air Ambulance Station. The year 1963, another year of Nowa Huta’s expansion, brought the end of the Krakow-Czyzyny airfield, and its functions were taken over by Balice and Pobiednik Wielki.
First, the Aviation Equipment Exhibition Centre was established at the Krakow Aeroclub, serving as the nucleus of a museum institution. Exhibition activity was inaugurated in 1964 with an exhibition on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the People’s Air Force of Poland.
In 1967, the Krakow institution came under the care of the Supreme Technical Organisation and changed its name to the Aviation Museum in Krakow. In 1971, it gained legal personality and continued its activity as the Museum of Aviation and Astronautics, organised by the Ministry of Transport.
In 1990, the institution changed its name to the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow. A modernisation process of its premises and infrastructure began, which continues to this day. In 1993, a new hangar (the so-called Small Hangar) was completed, modelled on structures from the World War I period, in which the most valuable exhibits from the early period of aviation development found shelter. In 1999, the Museum obtained the status of a regional Cultural Institution of the Malopolska Region. In 2004, the construction of two arched hangars was completed. One of them is used by the Police Aviation Section of the Regional Police Headquarters in Krakow. As a result, aviation operations are once again conducted on the grounds of the Southern Hangar Group.
The symbol of modernisation and at the same time the Museum’s landmark became the Main Building, completed in 2010 and co-financed from European Funds and the budget of the Malopolska Region. The new building, whose architecture is inspired by the shape of a propeller, also references the emblem of the pre-war 122nd Fighter Squadron stationed at the Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield. In 2017-2021, a major investment was the renovation of Hangar No. 6 and the former technical support buildings, office, and parachute store, which allowed the opening of new permanent exhibitions and the creation of additional exhibition space.
The task was carried out as part of the investment project entitled Restoration of the historic engineering structures of the former Rakowice-Czyzyny airfield along with their adaptation for the needs of the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow. The investment was financed from European Funds (Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020), from the budget of the Malopolska Region, and from the Museum’s own funds.
On 20 April, the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow signed a contract for the implementation of the investment “Heksagon — construction of a hangar for the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow”.
The ceremony began at 12:30. The guest of honour was Iwona Gibas — Member of the Board of the Malopolska Region. After the commemorative speech by the Marshal, the contract for the implementation of the investment was signed between the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow and Przedsiebiorstwo Budowlano-Produkcyjne Legprzem Sp. z o.o., based in Krakow.
— This is an exceptional day for our Museum, one that will undoubtedly go down in history — said Museum Director Tomasz Kosecki during yesterday’s ceremony.
— It is also a wonderful gift on the occasion of the Museum’s 60th anniversary, which falls this year.
The subject of the planned exhibition is gliding and sport aviation from the 1930s to the 1990s. The exhibition will feature approximately 40 large-scale objects: gliders and aircraft. The exhibition will be supplemented with captions in the form of scenographic installations, educational objects and display units, 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 aircraft will reference exhibition trends from the 1920s. As a result of this approach, visitors’ attention will be focused on the unique, restored gliders.
The new museum hangar is to be completed by July 2024. The contractor is Przedsiebiorstwo Budowlano-Produkcyjne Legprzem, based in Krakow. The total construction cost including management has been estimated at PLN 24.6 million, of which over PLN 21.4 million comes from funding obtained under the Government Fund Polish Deal: Strategic Investment Programme. The remaining amount will be covered by the Malopolska Region.
