The Living Museum of Gingerbread was established in 2006 by Elżbieta and Andrzej Olszewski and it is the first interactive museum of this kind in Europe. The Medieval gingerbread bakery managed by Gingerbread Master and Gingerbread Witch was opened in Rabińska 9 street in a historical granary of 1863. A showroom was opened there in 2014 on the second floor of the Museum. At the gingerbread bakery dated the beginning of the 20th century there are, among others, shows on decorating the gingerbread with royal icing. In the first year since opening the Museum was visited by 34 thousand guests, in 2014 nearly 170 thousand, and in 2015 – over 115 thousand. In 2016 the number of tourists increased by over 131 thousand.
In 2017 it was 138 thousand. The received awards:
2006 – Small Business of the Year in a competition organized by Citi Bank and Kronenberg Foundation,
2008 – in a competition organised by the Polish Tourist Organization the Museum received the Certificate of the Tourist Product 2008,
2012 – the Museum became one of the Seven New Wonders of the World in a competition organised by National Geographic,
2014 – the Gold Carriage by the Readers of Dziennik Nowości for overall activity,
2015 – the Museum was identified by the American Huffington Post – the most opinion-forming portal in the world – as a place worth visiting in 2015,
2015 – the Quality Certificate of one of the world biggest tourist websites TripAdvisor,
2016 – Pascal award as one of ten most interesting museums in Poland,
2016 – Tourist Product of the Year 2016 – the award given during the Polish Tourist Congress by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Polish Tourist Organization,
2016 – nomination to the Gold Certificate of PTO,
2016 – one of the most unusual places in the world Atlas Obscura,
2016 – attraction no. 1 in Toruń according to website TripAdvisor,
2017 – the Living Museum of Gingerbread received the Gold Certificate of the Polish Tourist Organization for the best tourist product – the most desirable and prestigious award of the tourist industry.
The Museum develops and promotes Poland, Toruń and a regional product in the world. The number of guests visiting the museum is still growing. Every year there is a progress in net income, which is invested in development. The number of Polish and foreign tourist offices co-operating with the Museum has also increased. In the first year if its activity there were 20 offices, in 2016 over 400, including offices from the USA, Germany, Japan, Spain, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belorussia. The owner of the Gingerbread Museum also run the House of Toruń Legends and Vistula Bunker, which allows to offer tourist package services.
A production and sales of gingerbread was started – the product under its own brand, with registered trademarks and new offers for every tourist segment were introduced. In April 2017 a shop with gingerbreads was opened. In the beginning of its activity there were 9 people employed at the Museum, currently there are 30 (including the disabled).
The Museum is the disabled- friendly. Tickets for children and disabled young people cost 1 PLN. There are shows with audio description – the whole show is conducted in the way enabling blind people to take part in it and see. The Museum co-operates with Fundacja Nieograniczona im. Bogny Olszewska and the foundation Light supporting people in a coma. It supports Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy by putting items to auction and by conducting a special show of which the income is donated to that charity action.
The Museum tries to use the local suppliers and sub-suppliers. If there is no such possibility, it chooses the Polish ones. It also focuses on a sustainable development and supporting smaller initiatives.
