ABOUT US
The Museum of Olympism at the University of Szczecin operates under the Rector’s Order of the University of Szczecin, Prof. Dr. Hab. Waldemar Tarczyński (no. 138/2022) and the Resolutions of the US Senate (no. 114, no. 115) dated September 29, 2022, as a separate university-wide organizational unit of the University of Szczecin. It conducts research, scientific, educational, popularization, and promotional activities in the field of Olympism from an interdisciplinary perspective. The oversight of the Museum’s activities is exercised by the rector of the University of Szczecin. Since October 1, 2022, Dr. Hab. Jerzy Eider, Prof. of US (among others, former dean of the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion US in 2011 – 2019, member of the West Pomeranian Olympic Council, honorary member of the Szczecin Olympians Club) has been serving as the Director of the Museum of Olympism at the University of Szczecin, while also being a research and teaching staff member of the Institute of Physical Culture Sciences at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health of US.
The official opening of the Museum of Olympism at the University of Szczecin took place on November 29, 2022.
The Museum is located at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health of US – al. Piastów 40b, building 6. The university museum unit consists of two parts: located on the ground floor hall and the exhibition room. In the first room, between the windows on the wall, there is an information plaque that presents the history of the museum’s creation and lists honored Olympians, Paralympians, coaches, physiotherapists, and a sports judge – graduates of the Szczecin Higher School of Pedagogy and the University of Szczecin. Next to it, on a large frame, contemporary photographs of our honored individuals (taken during the handover of sports exhibits) are displayed. In the hall, photographs (enlarged from master’s or bachelor’s diplomas) of 26 athletes participating in the Olympics or Paralympics are exhibited. A monitor is mounted on the wall, displaying films promoting the university Museum, as well as numerous photographs showing the acquired sports collection. At the entrance to the main room of the museum, there are portraits of six individuals, among whom five served as coaches and one as a manager during the games, followed by two photographs of physiotherapists and one of a sports judge. Sports exhibits donated by graduates are located in rooms 24-25, which are the main part of the university museum. Numerous exhibits are very well presented in free-standing glass museum showcases, display cases on pedestals, mannequins, as well as on the walls.
The collection gathered (as of December 31, 2023) includes, among others: Paralympic medals (gold and bronze), commemorative medals (received by all official participants of the games), medals from various championship events; representative clothing (jacket and skirt, men’s attire with shoes, men’s jackets, tracksuits, sweatshirts, competition and training shirts and shorts); volunteer shirts; sports shoes (athletic spikes for running); sports equipment (starting block – training, pole vault pole); accreditations, archival documents (e.g., diplomas, IDs, congratulatory letters, press articles; photographs, mascots; Olympic and Paralympic souvenirs (sold to participants and fans).
The museum room also contains showcases equipped with compact works by many authors (individual, co-authored, edited) related to Olympism.
Currently (as of December 31, 2023), the Museum honors graduates of the former Szczecin Higher School of Pedagogy and the Faculty of Engineering and Economics of Transport of the Szczecin University of Technology, as well as the current University of Szczecin, including individuals who obtained a doctorate in physical culture sciences at US, as well as former academic teachers of the mentioned universities – participants in the world’s largest sporting event – the quadrennial Olympics (with the exception of Tokyo 2020 in 2021): Olympic, Paralympic (new terminology effective in Poland from February 6, 2023).
Among the honored are 24 Olympians, 4 Paralympians, 6 coaches, 2 physiotherapists, and 1 sports judge – totaling 36 participants in the summer Olympics and Paralympics (since one person is listed twice both as an Olympian and as a manager among the coaching staff). Among the distinguished are, among others, Olympic and Paralympic medalists (e.g., Marek Kolbowicz, Konrad Wasielewski with partners Michał Jeliński, Adam Korol – Olympic
The history of the creation of the Olympism Museum at the University of Szczecin
Throughout the history of the University of Szczecin (which began its operations on September 1, 1985), many rooms (halls, auditoriums, chambers, reading rooms, libraries) were named after distinguished professors or given other individualized names (e.g., the Hall of the Szczecin School of Transport). None of the university spaces honored in this way were related to the study of physical culture (such as sports, Olympism, etc.).
At the university’s faculties, including those organizational units associated with physical culture: the Institute of Physical Culture (from September 1, 1985, to September 30, 1992, previously at the Faculty of Physical Education of the Higher School of Pedagogy in Szczecin: from October 1, 1973, to August 31, 1985), the Institute of Physical Culture of the Faculty of Natural Sciences (from October 1, 1992, to February 28, 2011), the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion (from March 1, 2011, to September 30, 2019), and the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health (since October 1, 2019) many athletes from Szczecin and regional sports clubs, practicing various sports disciplines and competitions, members of national teams, studied. They represented Poland in the biggest sports events: Olympic and Paralympic Games, world and European championships, world and European cups, Universiades. They won medals, reached final places, and honorably represented, among others, their country, sports club, university, and faculty. Students and graduates of the Szczecin Higher School of Pedagogy and the University of Szczecin also participated in these championship events, serving as coaches, physiotherapists, and referees.
To honor the graduates of the Higher School of Pedagogy in Szczecin and the University of Szczecin – participants in the Olympic or Paralympic Games – actions were taken at the end of 2018 aimed at creating the Faculty Hall of Sports Achievements (WSOS) at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion of the University of Szczecin (al. Piastów 40b, building 6). In June 2019, room 24-25, located on the ground floor of the building, was allocated for the needs of the WSOS being created. The concept, organization, equipment of the hall, and the academic and sports biographies of our honored graduates were detailed in the monographic study by Jerzy Eider titled “Faculty Hall of Sports Achievements at the University of Szczecin,” published by WNUS in 2020.
However, the difficult situation we faced since 2020 – the ongoing pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus (e.g., remote work at the university, isolation) – made it impossible to fulfill the developed schedule of tasks that needed to be completed to open the WSOS in 2020. Primarily, it was not possible to arrange meetings with our university graduates – Olympians, Paralympians, coaches, physiotherapists, referees – participants in the summer Olympic or Paralympic Games, who were to donate, among other things, their sports exhibits commemorating their participation in the largest sports event of the four-year period (exceptionally five-year period Tokyo 2020, due to the global pandemic).
In 2021, over five months (from May to September), as many as 22 graduates (13 Olympians, 3 Paralympians, 4 coaches, 2 physiotherapists) honored the WSOS with their presence, donating numerous sports memorabilia from their participation in the Olympics (1968 – 2020), Paralympics (1980 – 2020) as well as other sporting events – championships.
The number and historical quality of the various sports exhibits donated and gathered between 2019 – 2021 were so impressive that in September 2021, a decision was made to transform the WSOS into the Museum of Olympism at the University of Szczecin (MOwUS). The initiative to create the Museum was very positively evaluated by the new authorities of the University of Szczecin for the 2020 – 2024 term. Prof. Dr. Hab. Waldemar Tarczyński, the Rector, and Chancellor Mgr Eng. Andrzej Jakubowski supported (and continue to support) all organizational activities carried out by Dr. Hab. Jerzy Eider, Prof. US (the initiator and organizer of WSOS, Museum), aiming for the official opening of the museum unit on November 29, 2022.
The museum’s resources are continuously being expanded, as more graduates – participants in the Olympics, Paralympics – donate numerous sports artifacts. As of December 31, 2023, already 30 graduates have donated various sports exhibits enriching the equipment, including museum showcases and mannequins.
Biographical note of the acting director Ph.D. Jerzy Eider
Dr hab. Jerzy Eider, an alumnus of the Academy of Physical Education in Krakow, engaged in artistic gymnastics at MKS “Znicz” Jarosław and GTS “Wisła” Krakow. He is an associate professor at the University of Szczecin, holding a Doctor of Habilitation degree in physical culture sciences. As a research and teaching staff member, he has been involved with the Institute of Physical Culture Sciences at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health (renamed as of October 1, 2019) at the University of Szczecin. His leadership roles include serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion at the University of Szczecin (2011 – 2019), Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences for the Institute of Physical Culture US (2008 – 2011), simultaneously holding the position of the director of the Institute of Physical Culture, Director of the Institute of Physical Culture at the Faculty of Natural Sciences US (2002 – 2011), and Head of the Department of Individual Sports, Tourism, and Recreation at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion US (2016 – 2019), previously leading various departments for many years (1996 – 2016).
A theorist and practitioner in physical culture, the Olympic and Paralympic movement, he has chaired and organized scientific and popular science conferences related to Olympism. He is the author or co-author of over 290 scientific works, including 17 monographs, 15 under scientific editorship, and 6 academic textbooks. He has been a promoter for 5 doctoral theses defended, including for Olympic champion (Beijing 2008) in the men’s quadruple sculls Dr. Marek Kolbowicz (2012), numerous bachelor’s (including Olympians: Paweł Baraszkiewicz and Kacper Ziemiński – IKF PWSZ in Wałcz) and master’s theses (including Olympians: Henryk Wawrowski – IKF US, Przemysław Czerwiński, Damian Zieliński, Marcin Lewandowski, Łukasz Chyła – WKFiPZ US). He served as the scientific editor of the “Central European Journal of Sport Sciences and Medicine” (2013 – 2021). A member of the West Pomeranian Olympic Council (since 2006), honorary member of the Szczecin Olympians Club (since 2006), and chairman of the Sports Council of the Szczecin City Municipality (2003 – 2021). He is the initiator of the Faculty Hall of Sports Achievements at the University of Szczecin (in the former Faculty of Physical Culture and Health Promotion US), which led to the creation of the Museum of Olympism at the University of Szczecin. Since October 2022, he has been acting as the director of the Museum.
For his efforts in promoting the ideas and movement of Olympism, he was awarded by the Polish Olympic Committee in 2006 with a silver medal and in 2022 with a gold medal “For Merits to the Polish Olympic Movement,” and in 2023 with a commemorative medal on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Polish Olympic Committee.
His authored, co-authored, and edited comprehensive works are dedicated to the issues of Olympism, especially in Western Pomerania.
Studies
In the museum space, showcases contain comprehensive works (authored, co-authored, under scientific editorship) related to Olympism, concerning the individuals honored in the museum, participants of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – representing sports clubs of the West Pomeranian voivodeship. The showcases also display books and popular science articles presenting the museum in various aspects:
