1802 - Rev. L. J. Szersznik opens the museum and the public library

Father Leopold Jan Szersznik (1747-1814) belongs to the group of the most distinguished and prominent people coming from Cieszyn. Due to the dissolution of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the inability to find employment in the Czech Republic, he was forced to return to his hometown. He was professionally involved in education, and after the great fire of the town in 1789 he was active in the municipal government and had a significant influence on the reconstruction of the town. However, he was most involved in science and library activities. He did not publish many works, but during his life he managed to collect a huge and valuable collection of books, as well as a rich collection of museum exhibits. In 1802, on the basis of his own collections, he opened a library available to junior secondary school students and to the general public. He later guaranteed the continued functioning of the library by an entry in his last will. Thus, the first public library and the first museum in Poland were established. The collection of L. J. Szersznik to this day forms the main part of the collections of the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia and the Historical Cieszyn Library.