If you think our obsession for Jakarta’s history has reached worrying levels, then you might be right. Who else in the world would get so utterly excited by discovering colonial era relics from the time Jakarta was called Batavia, that we assumed would have all disappeared long ago? When we recently passed the Al Makmur mosque on Jalan Raden Saleh (formerly: Laan Raden Saleh) we discovered something unbelievable.
Street lamp
Thinking that all colonial era street furniture was removed decades ago, we noticed the remains of an original 1930s Batavia street lamp on the bridge next to the mosque. There are a few more on the other corners of the bridge too. The historic picture of the mosque on Jalan Raden Saleh and street lantern dates from 1941. If you know of any other old street lanterns in current day Jakarta, please let us know!
Bank Tabungan Negara (former Postspaarbank) at Jalan Gajah Mada 1980
Cars making a U-turn at the Harmoni intersection in front of the Bank Tabungan Negara 40 years ago. At that time the building was still in exactly its original state, before the newly built high rise headquarters were built behind this building in the 1990s and two parts of the front facade on the ground floor were removed to allow cars to enter and exit the grounds through the old building. These days there are basically two big gaps in front of the historic bulding.
Tjokin Kjokoe
It was since 1927 owned by the Postspaarbank (Postal Savings Bank) who modernised it in 1930. During World War II (1942-1945) the bank was named Tjokin Kjokoe. Between 1945 and 1947 it had two entrances: to the left “Bank Tabungan Pos” for Indonesian languaged bank account holders, to the right “Postspaarbank” for bank account holders with a Dutch background. In 1950 it was officially renamed as Bank Tabungan Pos, until it obtained its current name in 1963. Since 2017 the name “Postspaarbank” has returned on top of the red roof of the building again.
Henk van Rinsum
The photographer in 1980 was Henk van Rinsum. He stood in front of the former Hotel des Galeries on the corner of Jalan Hayam Wuruk and Jalan Juanda. Outside this photo to the left, one would be able to admire former society De Harmonie, which entered its last 5 years of its existence; the building was sadly demolished in 1985.
President Soekarno in a Dutch interview at Istana Merdeka, 1963
A short but rare interview in Dutch, given by President Soekarno (1901-1970) to Dutch journalist Willem Oltmans (1925-2004) in Jakarta’s Merdeka Palace in 1963. Oltmans, who was controversial in his home country, but praised for his persistence and his apparent easy access to world leaders, eventually became close friends with Indonesia’s first president. Soekarno, who was still fluent in Dutch in the 1960s, expressed his gratitude for the fact that the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia had normalised following the end of the Irian Barat (Papua) conflict, and wholeheartedly invited Princess Beatrix to visit Indonesia. Soekarno also elaborated on a letter he received from Prince Bernhard and the rare species of one-horned rhinoceros and Komodo dragons in Indonesia. We have added English subtitles for your convenience.
View of Gambir train station along Koningsplein Oost (Jalan Medan Merdeka Timur) in 1930
An early morning view of Koningsplein Oost (now Jalan Medan Merdeka Timur) of exactly 90 years ago, with train station Weltevreden (now Stasiun Gambir) on the right side of the road. This train stop already dated back to 1871, however the art deco building we see on the photo here opened in 1929. Although the district name of Weltevreden changed to Batavia Centrum (now Jakarta Pusat) in 1931, the train station retained its name “Weltevreden” until it changed to “Station Koningsplein” in 1937. In 1950 it officially obtained its current name “Gambir”. The art deco train station was demolished in 1992 as the train tracks became elevated and hence the requirement for a new train station.
Tram line 2
At the front we see the elegant poles of tram line 2 which continued until the intersection of Menteng (now Jalan Menteng Raya), Tjikini (Jalan Cikini Raya) and Van Heutszplein (Jalan Cut Meutia). Just beyond the bicycle rider on the left is the turnoff to Hertogspark (now Jalan Pejambon), with the Willemskerk (Gereja Immanuel) on the other side of the road. The road on this photo continues further south until it becomes Prapatan Gambir (now Jalan Ridwan Rais). In the comment section a photo of exact the same site today
The very oldest pictures of Batavia/Jakarta in full colour date from 1937. James Anthony FitzPatrick’s series “The Voice of the Globe”, of which yesterday we posted footage from 1939, already pictured Java with a Technicolor camera in 1937. Well, it was broadcasted in American cinemas in March 1937 so it could well be that we are looking here at colour images from 1936. It is part of a combined episode “Glimpses of Java and Ceylon” however we will only show Java here.
We see footage of Kali Besar, the Chinese quarter, Molenvliet and the famous ‘rijsttafel’ (rice table) at Hotel des Indes. Including attractive glasses of cold beer in colour served in the garden of this famous Batavia/Jakarta landmark of the past. Enjoy these unique pictures… the oldest footage in colour we have of our beloved city.
