Museum of Technology, Warsaw

The National Museum of Technology in Warsaw, Narodowe Muzeum Techniki in Polish, has documented Polish and Central European industrial history since 1950. Since 1955 it has occupied the socialist-realist Palace of Culture next to the central station, a 1955 gift from Stalin which at 237 metres remains Poland's tallest building. Across roughly 11,000 square metres the collections highlight the work of Polish engineering pioneers, including the original Linotype machine of the Poznan-born Ottmar Mergenthaler who emigrated in 1885, original telegraph sets and apparatus used by Marie Curie in her early radium experiments. The railway hall holds well-preserved steam locomotives, among them an 1898-built sugar-factory engine that hauled beet at Glubczyce until 1979. Many hands-on stations, from Morse keys to a Tesla coil, make it a favourite with families. Admission is around 18 zloty, free every Thursday; the famous Palace of Culture viewing terrace is one floor above.