The National Museum in Krakow was established by a resolution of the Krakow City Council on 7 October 1879, as the first national museum institution at a time when the Polish people were deprived of their own statehood and country, which had been appropriated by the partitioning powers.

Until the end of World War I it was the only such large museum accessible to the public in the Polish lands, and to this day remains the institution with the largest numbers of collections, buildings and permanent exhibitions.