Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory- Top Attraction in Krakow

Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory is a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow. It is located in the Zabłocie district of Krakow in the administrative building of the former enamel factory known as Oskar Schindler’s Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik.

The factory was founded in 1937 as a place of production of enamelled and tin products. It was leased and then taken over by the German entrepreneur Oskar Schindler in 1939 as the German Enamel Factory. It was run by Schindler until 1945. Schindler employed their Jews, threatened with extermination. Those rescued by Schindler from extermination were later inscribed on the so-called Schindler’s list.

After World War II, the factory was taken over by the state treasury, and in 2005 by the city of Kraków. Since 2007, the factory has been divided between two institutions: the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Schindler’s factory is one of the objects on the route of the Krakow Technology Route.

The History

The Schindler’s Factory was established as the First Lesser Poland Factory of Enamelware and Tin Products Rekord Ltd. It was founded in 1937 and was initially located in a different location. The factory exists in new and its current building since 1938.

In 1939, production stopped, and in the same year Oskar Schindler took over the management board of a factory that was already in bankruptcy. At the beginning of 1940, he leased the factory buildings there and then changed the name of the factory to Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF).

Shortly after the factory was taken over, Schindler proceeded to expand it according to the plans prepared by the former shareholders of the Rekord factory. Such an investment was possible thanks to the capital of Jewish entrepreneurs who in exchange received a commodity or employment in the factory. Works began in 1940 with the creation of a payroll office, a doctor’s office and a dentist’s office, an outpatient clinic, a kitchen, a canteen, and stables for horses and car garages. In the following years, a factory hall for lathes, press machines, and a tool storeroom was built. In 1942, the hall of the die-cutting house was built up, creating a three-story building housing a pattern shop, warehouses, social and administrative facilities together with the owner’s office and apartment.

The factory produced enamelled cookware. In 1943 a branch of armaments production was also opened, where mess tins for the Wehrmacht, scales, and fuses for artillery and aerial shells were made.

Initially, the majority of employees were Poles, but with time there were more and more Jews working in the factory. When in 1943 the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto was carried out, some of the surviving Jews were placed in the Płaszów concentration camp and forced into inhuman labor there. Thanks to Schindler’s efforts, his employees were placed in camp barracks in Zabłocie, in a parcel adjacent to the factory.

When the Germans started the liquidation of the camps and prisons as a result of the approaching eastern front, Schindler evacuated his armaments factory to Brünnlitz. In order to save prisoners, he developed the famous “Schindler’s List”, thanks to which he bought and transported over 1100 people to the new factory — thus saving their lives. The prisoners worked there until 1945 when the camp was liberated.

In 2005, the area of ​​the former factory became the property of the city of Kraków. After numerous discussions and debates with the participation of representatives of many circles regarding the destination of the former Oskar Schindler’s factory, in 2007 the concept of its division between two cultural institutions was adopted. In the administrative building, a project developed by the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow was carried out, assuming the creation of an exhibition about the town and its inhabitants during the German occupation.

Schindler’s Factory Sightseeing

The permanent exhibition presented in the Museum is entitled Kraków — the time of occupation in 1939–1945. The intention of the Museum is to show the history of the factory in a broader historical context. In 45 exhibition halls, Krakow and its residents from the period of the Second World War are shown.

The exhibition was divided into a dozen or so segments devoted to particular thematic issues: the war of 1939, the role of Krakow as the center of the General Governorship, everyday life of the inhabitants, the fate of the Krakow Jews, the secret state, the history of the people working in the factory and the story of Oskar Schindler himself. Museum exhibits have been supplemented with rich photographic and archival documentation from Polish and foreign collections.

Schindler’s Factory Opening Hours

Summer season (April-October):

• Monday: 9:00–16:00 (every first Monday of each month museum is open until 14:00
• Tuesday-Sunday: 09:00–20:00 (every first Tuesday of each month museum is closed)

Winter season (November-March)

• Monday: 9:00–14:00
• Tuesday-Sunday: 9:00–18:00 (every first Tuesday of each month museum is closed)

IMPORTANT: The last entrance for visitors is 90 minutes before closing the exhibition.

Schindler’s Factory Tickets

Normal ticket — 24 PLN

Reduced ticket — 18 PLN

Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children aged up to 16 years old OR 1 adult and 3 children aged up to 16 years old) — 55 PLN

On Mondays, entry to the exposition is free of charge.

IMPORTANT: Tickets can be bought on the spot at the ticket office or online. The number of tickets for the exhibition is limited. It is strongly advised to plan your visit and buy tickets with significant time advance. Sometimes there are no more tickets even with one week of advance, especially in the highest season, so take this into consideration when coming to Krakow and planning to visit Schindler’s Factory.

Schindler’s Factory Tours

If you don’t want to organize everything on your own, our guided Oskar Schindler’s Factory tours will be a great choice for you.

It will give you a unique chance to explore the Schindler’s Factory with a local professional guide who will be only at your group’s service. All of our guides are licensed and official and have huge knowledge but also a passion for what they do. You will learn everything you want about Schindler’s and Factory’s history and hear interesting curiosities about this place that you wouldn’t find in any guidebook!

Everything will be taken care of for you. Choosing our tour, you won’t have to wait in line at the ticket office or worry about the lack of tickets. Skip the line entry ticket is always guaranteed and included in the price. No worries about the crowds either, the group is always up to 15 people only.

You can choose one of two options:

1. Oskar Schindler’s Factory Guided Tour — 2 hours tour that includes sightseeing the main exposition in the Museum.
2. Oskar Schindler’s Factory and Historic Kazimierz District Guided Tour — an extended 4-hours option that includes everything that is in the standard version and in addition you will have a guided tour around the beautiful Kazimierz District in Krakow, including the Old Jewish Quarter.

In both versions, all skip-the-line tickets and private guides are included. Tours take place twice every Saturday and are operated in two chosen languages: English and Spanish.