Ambarawa is a town (and administratively, a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the

Semarang Regency Semarang is a landlocked Regencies of Indonesia, regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 950.207 km2 and had a population of 930,727 at the 2010 census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. 999,817 ...

) located between the city of Semarang and

Salatiga Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a Cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Sura ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Administratively, it is bordered by the districts of Banyubiru to the south, Jambu to the west, Bandungan to the north, and Bawen to the east. During colonial times, Ambarawa was an important railway hub connecting through regions in Java as far as Yogyakarta and Magelang. The

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

-Ambarawa-

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...

line was fully operational until 1977. It is the site of the Indonesian Railway Museum (''Museum Kereta Api Ambarawa''), which features a section of

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...

between Ambarawa to Bedono on the former Ambarawa-Magelang mainline. The 19th-century Fort Willem I penitentiary complex and military barrack is also located in Ambarawa.

Japanese internment camps

Ambarawa was the site of Japanese internment camps where up to 15,000 Europeans had been held during the Japanese occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following Japanese surrender and the subsequent

proclamation of Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

, fighting broke out in and around Ambarawa on 20 November 1945 between British troops evacuating European internees and Indonesian Republicans. File:Ambarawa-sector 28-7-47. Het oude fort Willem I te Ambarawa, Bestanddeelnr 1681.jpg, Fort Willem I, circa 1900s-1930s File:MtUngaran Ambarawa RawaPening1 Pj DSC 1383s.JPG,

Mount Ungaran Mount Ungaran is a deeply eroded stratovolcano, located in the south of Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. There are no historical records about the mountain's activities. Two active fumarole fields are found on the southern flanks. The town ...

and Lake Rawapening

Battle of Ambarawa

The town of Ambarawa was the site of the Battle of Ambarawa which itself was a part of the greater Indonesian War of Independence. By the end of WWII, Allied Troops were hunting down the remaining Japanese holdouts in South East Asia. British soldiers, led by Brigadier Richard Bethell, came to the city of

to disarm Japanese troops and liberate

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

and their presence was initially welcomed by the Governor of Central Java

Wongsonegoro Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung Wongsonegoro (20 April 1895 – 4 March 1974), more commonly known simply as Wongsonegoro, was an Indonesian politician, who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia, alongside Zainul Arifin under Prime Min ...

. However, the locals were angered by the fact that Dutch POWs were being armed and triggered actions by the People's Security Army (TKR). The Allied Troops were overrun and escaped to nearby Ambarawa. On December 12, 1945, Col. Soedirman led an assault against the Allied troops and successfully cut-off their supply chain. The battle ended on December 15, 1945, with the Indonesian Army forcing Allied Troops to retreat back to Semarang.

Tourist attractions

* Kampoeng Rawa * Indonesian Railway Museum * Fort Willem I

Notable people

* Simon Sanches, Dutch navy nurse and laboratory technician who planned to commit a coup d'état in Suriname.

References

External links

* *http://dppad.jatengprov.go.id/up3ad-kab-semarang/ (source of population data) {{coord, 7, 16, S, 110, 24, E, region:ID_type:city, display=title Semarang Regency Populated places in Central Java Districts of Central Java