The Polish Arms Museum in Kołobrzeg, located at 13 Armii Krajowej Street, was established on May 8, 1963. It is registered in the National Museums Register under number 8. Besides the main headquarters and the Kołobrzeg City Museum branch in the Braunschweig Palace, the museum also includes a complex of buildings at 5 Emilia Gierczak Street, where the main exhibition presenting the history of Polish weaponry is located. It also encompasses the Maritime Skansen in the Kołobrzeg port, the Cold War Museum in Podborsko, situated on the site of a former atomic ammunition depot, and a branch of the Museum of Aviation and Military Technology housed in a hangar in Rogowo.

Initially, the museum was focused on the history of Kołobrzeg. Since 1966, however, its profile has mainly concentrated on historical and military aspects, though it still also deals with the history of the city of Kołobrzeg.