Herbst Palace is a place closely connected with the history of the Herbst and Scheibler families, considered to be among the richest and most influential industrialist families in Poland in the second half of the 19th century. The interior exhibition includes lavishly furnished living rooms and the owners’ private quarters. The interiors display furniture, paintings, and works of decorative art from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The neo-Renaissance villa, surrounded by a garden, is located next to factory and residential buildings, of which it was an integral part.
The exhibition Unfinished Stories presents the history of two generations of the Herbst family, whose activities had a significant impact on the development of industrial Łódź at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on newly discovered archival materials, the exhibition showcases not only their economic successes but also their engagement in social life and philanthropic efforts. Visitors can explore unique photographs, film footage, and documents that shed light on both the family’s history and the city's dynamic transformations, making the exhibition a story of people whose lives were inextricably intertwined with the history of Łódź.
The exhibition presents works of Polish painting from the 19th and early 20th centuries, which constitute the most valuable part of the collection of the Herbst Palace Museum, a branch of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. The exhibition reflects the evolution of artistic ideas over the years – from the works of Jan Piotr Norblin and Piotr Michałowski, through the monumental paintings of Henryk Rodakowski and Jan Matejko, to the works of Aleksander Gierymski, Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski, and Olga Boznańska, among others.
