The A.A. Maramis Building is an early 19th century building in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
,
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 ...
. It hosts the headquarters of the
Indonesian Ministry of Finance.
The building was built following Dutch East Indies Governor General
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels (21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818) was a Dutch revolutionary, general and politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811.
Early life
Born in Hattem, Netherlands, on 21 Octob ...
's intention to move the official residence of the
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...
from the decaying
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
to the southern suburb of
Weltevreden. It was never used as an official residence of the Governor-General.
It is the second oldest surviving building in
Central Jakarta
Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...
(after
Istana Negara) in terms of when the construction was started, and the largest private residence ever built in Jakarta.
History
Weltevreden was a southern suburb of
old Batavia
Kota Tua Jakarta (Indonesian for "Jakarta Old Town"), officially known as Kota Tua, is a neighborhood comprising the original downtown area of Jakarta, Indonesia. It is also known as (Dutch for "Old Batavia"), ("Lower City", contrasting it wit ...
. The land had been purchased by the last Governor-General of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
,
Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten
Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten (19 February 1755, in Bergen op Zoom – 22 August 1801, in Batavia) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1796 until 1801. He was the last Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company, which was ...
, from his predecessor, Governor-General
Petrus Albertus van der Parra
Petrus Albertus van der Parra (29 September 1714 – 28 December 1775) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1761 to 1775.
Biography
Petrus Albertus van der Parra was born in Colombo, the son of a Secretary to the government of Ceyl ...
. The area began to develop with the gradual decay of the increasingly unhealthy old city. The initial migration began after the old city's malaria epidemic in 1732.
Development of the area as the new seat of government started with
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels (21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818) was a Dutch revolutionary, general and politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811.
Early life
Born in Hattem, Netherlands, on 21 Octob ...
. He ordered the destruction of
Batavia Castle
Batavia Castle ( nl, Kasteel Batavia, ) was a fort located at the mouth of Ciliwung River in Jakarta. Batavia Castle was the administrative center of Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Asia.
Batavia Castle was also the residence of the Governor G ...
and the
city wall of the old town to provide bricks for a new palace. The chosen site for the new building is the
Waterlooplein
Waterlooplein (Waterloo Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The square near the Amstel river is named after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The daily flea market on the square is popular with tourists. The Stopera ...
in Weltevreden. Construction of the palace began on March 7, 1809. The plan shows a grand residence intended as the private palace for the governor-general flanked with smaller buildings for administrative work. Despite Daendels' intention to reside in the new palace, he never had the chance to stay because he was ordered by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to command the
Grande Armée
''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...
and was soon stationed in
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Modlin) is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was ori ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
Daendels' successor, Governor-General
Janssens Janssens is a Dutch surname equivalent to Johnson. It is the second most common surname in Belgiumwhile in the Netherlands, the forms Jansen and Janssen are more common. People with this surname include:
*Abraham Janssens (c. 1573 – 1632), Flem ...
, installed thatched roof on the unfinished parts of the building. When construction stopped in 1811 following the
British invasion of Java, the work was only half finished. With the governor's palace unfinished, the Governor-General of Batavia would reside at the
mansion of van Braam in Rijswijk (now Jalan Veteran)
15 years later in 1826, Governor-General
du Bus de Gisignies ordered the completion of the building to be used to house government bureaus that were then badly accommodated in other parts of Batavia. The construction was started under the supervision of Ir. J. Tromp. It was finally completed in 1828, about 19 years after it had begun. The completion is commemorated in a plaque written: " - Condidit Daendels, - Erexit DUBUS" currently kept in
Jakarta Cathedral
Jakarta Cathedral ( id, Gereja Katedral Jakarta, nl, Kathedraal van Jakarta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is also the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Jakarta, currently Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatm ...
. The finished building was popularly referred as Daendels' Palace (), also nicknamed the "White House" (Dutch ) and the "Big House" ().
Despite the completion of the building, the "governor's palace" was never used as a palace. The building became too cramped for its original intention as a palace and so in 1869 a new palace for the governor was planned. The new palace, known as the
Paleis te Koningsplein, was completed in 1873 facing
Koningsplein
Koningsplein ('King's Square') is a square in Amsterdam. It is located between the Singel and Herengracht canals. It has become a meeting place for the local community
References
External links
TERENA Webcam Koningsplein, Amsterdam via TEREN ...
(King's Square). Over the years it has housed numerous government bureaus and departments including the post office, the state printing office, the general clerk's department, and the high court at the ground floor of the main building (1835). On May 1, 1848, the High Court (, , ) was relocated to a building north of the Daendels Palace.
Since the early 1950s, the building has been used as the headquarters of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. The building was named A.A. Maramis building in honor of
Alexander Andries Maramis
Alexander Andries Maramis (20 June 1897 – 31 July 1977), more commonly known simply as A. A. Maramis, was an Indonesian politician and National Hero of Indonesia, who was involved in the struggle for independence. He was a member of the Investi ...
, Indonesia's second
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
(from 1945–1946).
Design
The palace was designed by J.C. Schultze in a style popular in France at that time, the Empire Style; the subsequent style conformed into the tropical climate of Indonesia became known as the
Indies Empire style
Indies Empire style (Dutch: ''Indisch Rijksstijl'') is an architectural style that flourished in the colonial Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the middle of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century. The style is an imitation of n ...
. The palace consists of a long two-storeyed main building intended for the residence of Governor-General Daendels himself. The private residence is flanked with two wings to its left and right that were intended for administration, guest houses, a stable for 120 horses, and carriage-houses.
The palace was constructed using the bricks from the 17th-century
Kasteel Batavia and parts of the city wall which was dismantled in 1809.
Since the colonial period, the building has been described as "huge and ugly" by critics. There was a small garden behind the palace known as (Du Bus Garden), but plants did not flourish there, nor did people take strolls there.
[Buitenzorg Reizen]
''Het Paleis van Daendels''
/ref>
See also
*Indies Empire style
Indies Empire style (Dutch: ''Indisch Rijksstijl'') is an architectural style that flourished in the colonial Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the middle of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century. The style is an imitation of n ...
*List of colonial buildings and structures in Jakarta
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
Cited works
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*
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{{refend
Colonial architecture in Jakarta
Dutch colonial architecture in Indonesia
Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Jakarta
Government buildings in Indonesia