Jakarta History Museum / Fatahillah

Museum

Established
Location
Jakarta Barat,
Type
Visitor

:
:

1707
Jl Taman Fatahillah 1,

Jakarta, Indonesia
:
History museum
69,708 (2006)

Member of group :
1.Aditya Arif Darmawan
2.Desi Syahbaniar
3.Mailulah Ely Fauziyah
4.Raisa Ananda Prameswari

(01)
(07)
(15)
(21)

The Jakarta History Museum also known as Fatahillah Museum or Batavia

Museum, is located in the Old Town of Jakarta, Indonesia. The building was built in
1710 as the Stadhuis (city hall) of Batavia. Jakarta History Museum, opened in
1974, displays objects from the prehistory period of the city region, the founding
of Jayakarta in 1527, and through the Dutch colonization period from the 16th
century until Indonesias Independence in 1945.

HISTORY
Jakarta History Museum is located in the building which was the former City Hall
of Batavia, known in the past as Stadhuis. This building was the administrative
headquarters of the Dutch East India Company and later of the Dutch Colonial
Government. The current building was constructed in 1707 by the city
government, replacing the former city hall built in 1627. Governor General
Abraham van Riebeeck inaugurated it in 1710.
The building contains 37 ornate rooms. There are also some cells located beneath
the front portico which were used as dungeons. A Javanese freedom fighter Prince
Diponegoro, who was treacherously arrested, was imprisoned here in 1830 before
being banished to Manado, North Sulawesi.
This building is located in front of a public square, which in the past was known as
Stadhuisplein, the City Hall Square. The square is now known as Fatahillah
Square. In the center of the square is a fountain which was used as a water
supply during colonial era. Also located in the square is a Portuguese cannon
(known as Si Jagur Cannon) with a hand ornament showing a fico gesture, which
is believed by local people to be able to induce fertility on women. The square
was also used as the place of executions.
In 1970, the Fatahillah Square was declared a Cultural Heritage. This effort was
the beginning of the development of the historical area of the City of Jakarta,
carried out by the Government of DKI Jakarta. The Jakarta History Museum was
inaugurated on 30 March 1974 as the center for collection, conservation and
research for all kinds of objects of cultural heritage related to the history of the
City of Jakarta. The building's generous scale with massive timber beams and
floorbands.

COLLECTIONS
Jakarta History Museum has a collection of around 23,500 objects, some of them
inherited from de Oude Bataviasche Museum (now the Wayang Museum). The
collection includes objects from the Dutch East Indies Company, historic maps,
paintings, ceramics, furnitures, and archeological objects from the prehistoric era
such as ancient inscriptions and sword. Jakarta History Museum also contains the
richest collection of Betawi style furnitures from the 17th to the 19th century. The
collections are divided into several rooms such as Prehistoric Jakarta Room,
Tarumanegara Room, Jayakarta Room, Fatahillah Room, Sultan Agung Room, and
MH Thamrin Room.
The museum also contains a replica of the Tugu Inscription from the age of Great
King Purnawarman, which is the evidence that the center of the Kingdom of
Tarumanegara was located around the seaport of Tanjung Priok on the coast of
Jakarta. There is also a replica of the 16th century map of the Portuguese Padrao
Monument, a historical evidence of the ancient Sunda Kelapa Harbor.

CONSERVATION

The museum was temporarily closed in July 2011 for conservation. Conservation
activities to be conducted with aid from the Dutch government are scheduled to begin in
2012. The museum is expected to reopen in 2014.