Peasant cottage from Sternalice, 1859
The hut was constructed either at the end of 17th or at the beginning of 18th century by the Franciscans who used it until 1850s. Most probably, it functioned as a nursing home for elderly and poor people. During the demolition, on one of the joists an inscription was found reading: 'Founder Strzelczok 1859'. Presumably, the building was rebuilt or constructed in the place of the old one then. In the hall of the building, a chimney with a passage was placed. On both sides of the hall, there are two spacious chambers and lards. At the back entrance, there are reconstructed cellars. There are flower gardens arranged in front of the building.
The spacious building from Sternalice was used as an exhibition of a former village school composed of a class chamber and a teacher's flat from the end of 19th century. Typical appliances and furniture coming from village schools of Opole region constitute the modest equipment of the classroom. There are, among others, desks with moving seats, a teacher's desk, a blackboard supported against a wooden stand, as well as a metal washbasin with a water tank. In the cupboard standing next to the teacher's desk, teaching aids such as compasses or manometers are kept. On the walls, there is a map and visual charts, among them charts presenting the pictures of protected animals. In the neighbouring room, in glass cabinets, photographs, textbooks, copybooks and school equipment are presented. Among the last ones, slate tablets in wooden frames deserve attention. They were used for writing on with special slate pencils and the inscription could have been removed with a sponge or a cloth thanks to which a tablet could have been used lots of times. There have also been presented mementos connected with Polish educational system in Silesia, among others Polish textbooks and magazines.
The Geneva Convention from 1922, signed by the Germans and the reborn Polish state, regulated the issues of minority educational system. This convention entitled Polish population, among others in Opole Silesia, to establish state and private schools of elementary and secondary levels. However, the number of minority schools was quite small – it was both for financial reasons and due to reluctance on the part of the authorities. From the time when Hitler rose to power, a wave of persecution and insults began which resulted in liquidation of the last Polish schools in August of 1939.