The Lapidary Museum in Police

Created in 1998 by a local historian Jan Matura in the Old Town Park, the Lapidary Museumium in Police is one of the most beautiful places of its type in Poland, displaying pieces of headstones from old German cemeteries.

The Lapidary in Police is one of the most beautiful in Poland. It is a place where tombstone fragments from former German cemeteries, situated within the Police municipality, are stored and presented. The place of remembrance was prepared on a small hill in the Staromiejski Park, on the site of a former cemetery, a part of which has been preserved until now and it is situated next to the road, at Mazurska Street. At the beginning of the 60’s of the 20th century burials were no longer conducted there, but it was possible to visit the graves. The Lapidary in Police was established in 1998 by the initiative of local authorities and a famous historian from Police – Jan Matura. The opening ceremony was attended by local government authorities, as well as representatives from Germany. There are approximately 125 tombstone elements, such as steles or tombstones with visible and well-preserved inscriptions, as well as stylized trunks. Fragments of some tombstones were transported there from more than twenty cemeteries located within the Police municipality. In the centre of the lapidary there is a stone, which weights approx. 30 ton. It was established there in 1934 in the cemetery existing at the time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the march out of Police troops to participate in the 1st World War. Today a small board with the inscription “LAPIDARIUM POLICKIE” [The Lapidary in Police] was placed on the stone. The sepulchral elements gathered here are surrounded by decorative posts connected with a chain. The place is perfectly visible in the evening and at night, as the lamps installed there illuminate the entire exhibition. At the entrance, on the right, there is a sculpture presenting a woman with her head bowed and a wreath in her right hand. The figure relies on a board with the inscription “DAHEIM”, which means “at home”. Establishing the lapidary in Police allowed the memory of German residents of the Police municipality to be preserved. It was possible to gather elements of German tombstones from the destroyed evangelic cemeteries and save some of the German citizens of Police and other nearby towns from oblivion. After the 2nd World War devastated and robbed cemeteries fell into ruin. Since 2012 thanks to the local authorities the memory of former German residents’ necropolis has been restored. They were gradually marked with large wooden crosses and a description in Polish and German.