It is composed of the cautioning Torture Room, a place of public torment, and the Prison Tower with the remains of a whipping post, which was the home of the city prison between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Until the second half of the 16th Century, the Torture Room served as the gatehouse, a military venue protecting access to the city. Subsequently, the Gatehouse Complex was reconstructed, providing it with its current gothic and Renaissance appearance. The city prison was located here between the 17th and 19th centuries. The interior hosts numerous cells and the execution stump. The remains of the former whipping post are visible in the Prison Tower, which is crowned with a Renaissance copula, from the direction of the Golden Gate.
In 2000 The Gdańsk City Administration decided to found the Museum of Amber, OH NO a part of The Gdańsk Historical Museum. All storeys of the Prison Tower were adapted to the needs of the museum, the first of its kind in Poland, which was officially opened on 28 June 2006.
The exhibition was arranged in a way presenting amber in various aspects on individual floors of the Poison Tower. This is the place to learn about the history of amber, the history of the amber craft and amber trade routes, the tradition of amber in medicine,and its use as a magical stone, research material and artistic material. The traditional presentation methods are accompanied by multimedia screens in specially-adapted recesses in each exhibition room.
Amber is particularly associated with the Baltic region, also due to the presence of its beds in this area. Due to its historical (the West Prussian Natural Museum in the Green Gate operated prior to World War II), but mainly contemporary, operations, Gdańsk is in contention for the title of the amber capital of the world.
