Four innocent children playing and wandering around the gardens of Paleis Rijswijk (now Istana Negara), possibly unaware of the important developments that happened inside this majestic white building. At the time of this photo Lieutenant Governor-General Huib van Mook (1894-1965), Indonesian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sutan Sjahrir (1909-1966) and delegations from both Indonesia and the Netherlands conducted the early independence negotiations in this building, leading to the agreement of Linggadjati.
The palace dated back to the late 1790s when it was built as a private residence by a certain J.A. van Braam. The government bought it in 1820 and until Paleis Koningsplein (now Istana Merdeka) opened in 1879, this was the official residence of the Governors-General, although not popular as the highest in rank mostly preferred the cooler environment of the Buitenzorg/Bogor palace.
Although widely respected internationally for his non-cooperative stance during the Japanese occupation (1942-1945), Sjahrir was quickly ditched by President Soekarno later in 1947 and the two eventually became political enemies, ultimately leading to the imprisonment (!) of Sjahrir in 1962, without even being put on trial. After he sadly passed away in 1966 in exile in Switzerland, former Dutch Prime Minister Schermerhorn hailed Sjahrir at his funeral and called him “a noble political warrior with high ideals, who hopefully will be recognized as such by next generations in Indonesia”. This indeed and fortunately happened, and in the 21st century Sjahrir’s legacy in Indonesia has been publicly rehabilitated.
photo: Cas Oorthuys; source: Netherlands Photo Museum
Jalan Hayam Wuruk, formerly Molenvliet Oost, in 1951
A rare colour photo of an iconic building on Jalan Hayam Wuruk 56-57, formerly Molenvliet Oost. On the left is the famous Tek Sun Ho “Eerste Weltevredensche Koffiebranderij” (First Coffee Roastery in Weltevreden), Weltevreden being the district which is now known as Jakarta Pusat. This coffee roastery was based along Molenvliet Oost since 1878.
The fourth generation (!) of the same family, now called Widjaja, is still doing business in coffee roasting and operating the Bakoel Koffie cafe in Cikini in the lovely row of architectural 1920s shops along Jalan Cikini Raya. This cafe is still a frequent and welcoming oasis for us at the end of historic researching and exhausting photo taking day activities in Jakarta. Bakoel also has an activity based cafe in Bintaro Sector 7.
On the right of this picture is NV Lim Tjoei Keng, a business in all kinds of car tools and accessories. A picture of Jalan Hayam Wuruk is never complete without the equally iconic washing ladies who still dominated this scene in the early 1950s and give this picture such a nostalgic Batavia/Djakarta atmosphere. Not only the washing ladies have disappeared long ago, but both buildings have been demolished too.
A lively and colourful scene along the east side of the former Molenvliet canal in a rare colour photo of 65 years ago. Prominent at the front the characteristic washing ladies who have featured on so many historic Molenvliet pictures and who indeed were still present in 1954, but sadly a scene of the past and simply unimaginable in today’s Jakarta, let alone along this polluted canal.
Kebon Jeruk mosque
At the back the Kebon Jeruk mosque which still exists along today’s Jalan Hayam Wuruk number 83 (see photo in comment box). The first mosque on this site was already built in 1786 by Chinese muslims, and there are still a few original 18th century elements present today. In the back yard there still is a tombstone dating back to 1792. The side street to the right is now called Jalan Mesjid Kebon Jeruk but in the 1950s still known as Gang Mesigit. On the corner a few warung stalls and a sign that points to Hotel Inder, further down the side street. The photo was taken by Everardus de Jong.
