Neon Museum, also the Museum of Neon () is a museum located in Warsaw's

Praga-Południe Praga-Południe (), also known by its anglicized names Praga-South, Praga South, and South Praga, is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland located on the east bank of the Vistula River. It consists of Grochów, Gocław, Kamionek and Saska K ...

. The institution documents and protects Polish and Eastern Bloc light advertisements created after World War II. It is the first in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and one of the few museums of

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

s in the world. The museum is located at ul. Mińska 25, on the premises of Soho Factory. It was established in 2012. Photographer Ilona Karwińska and graphic designer David Hill managed to save more than 200 neon signs and about 500 letters from imminent destruction. The museum also maintains a huge archive of documentation, drawings, photographs and original plans related to the history of these signs. First, the guide introduces the visitors to the museum itself and the Soho factory area, and then a double-decker bus takes them through the streets of Warsaw, and the guide tells them where this or that sign, advertisement was installed. A collection of Polish neon signs and advertisements from the socialist era is popular with visitors. The oldest neon sign is probably located at the Warszawa Stadion train station. The museum acquired, among others, the neon signs of the restaurants "Shanghai" and "Ambasador", the café "Jaś i Małgosia" and the cooperative trading house "Sezam". The museum's collection includes a "Karina" sign made from the letters of the original neon "Tkaniny dekoracyjne" signage. The sign "Karina" was created during the filming of the movie ''

Aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an America ...

'' by

Władysław Pasikowski Władysław Pasikowski (; born 14 June 1959 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He made his debut film, Kroll, in 1991, which was honored with the Polish Film Festival prize for his debut and the Special Jury Prize. P ...

about the Jedwabne pogrom. Exhibitions of the collection were held in London, Luxembourg, Amsterdam.

History

The history of the museum began in 2005 when Ilona Karwińska saved the ''Berlin'' neon sign from Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw. The collection of the museum features about 100 neon lights from all over Poland Most of the neons come from the 1960s and 1970s. The nine largest neon signs including ''GŁÓWNA KSIĘGARNIA TECHNICZNA (MAIN TECHNICAL BOOKSTORE)'', ''Jubiler'', ''dworzec kolejowy CHODZIEŻ ( CHODZIEŻ railway station)'', ''KINO PRAHA (PRAHA cinema)'' and ''

WARSZAWA WSCHODNIA Warszawa Wschodnia, in English Warsaw East, is one of the most important railway stations in Warsaw, Poland. Its more official name is ''Warszawa Wschodnia Osobowa'' (translated as ''Warsaw East Passenger''). It is located on the eastern side of t ...

'' are located on different Soho Factory buildings. The museum also looks after some neon signs in Warsaw, including

Mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

on Grójecka Street. The museum has a large archive containing blueprints, photographs and original plans. In 2013, the museum together with RWE organized ''Neon for Warsaw'' competition.''Happy to see you''
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References

External links

Official website of the Museum
Museums in Warsaw Praga-Północ Museums established in 2012 Neon lighting Signage 2012 establishments in Poland {{Poland-museum-stub