The Kaohsiung Museum of History () is a museum located in Yancheng District,

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. It is administered by the

Kaohsiung City Government The Kaohsiung City Government is the municipal government of Kaohsiung. It was formed after the merger of Kaohsiung County and Kaohsiung City in December 2010. Its chief administrator is the directly elected Mayor of Kaohsiung. History In ...

History

The building of the museum was originally the Kaohsiung City Hall. It was designed by Japanese architect Oono Yonezirou, working with the Shimizu Corporation under the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, ...

, and completed in 1939. After 1945, the city hall was renamed to Kaohsiung Municipal Government. On 18 January 1992, the municipal government moved to Union Office Building and the old building was turned into the Kaohsiung Museum of History which was opened on 25 October 1998.

Architecture

The building's architecture is an example of the Japanese Imperial Crown style. It was built with

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

for seismic resistance, as Taiwan is prone to earthquakes. The exterior of the building used the military base color of light green. It overall adopted the main tower with bilaterally symmetrical sub-towers style. The main tower is located on the top of the fourth floor. Both of the main tower and sub-towers at both sides were added with traditional Japanese four sharp corner top and glazed tile roof. They were decorated with Aquarius style spire, plum flowers patterns of raindrops and Japanese chrysanthemum pattern of ribbons. The walls of the building were sculpted with all kinds of decorations and the windows were made with exquisite and ingenuity handicraft. The interior of the building features the Y-shaped staircases in the luxurious lobby, the aesthetic arched corridors on the sides, the bright high-ceilinged patio and the eastern and western patterns of the grand columns. These decorations symbolize the prestigious ruling power of Japan and the harmonious architectural mixture of the east and the west.

Collection

Kaohsiung Museum of History (KMH) is expected to be the historical repository of Kaohsiung area by establishing the collection based on “Kaohsiung City development”. To preserve the local background knowledge and emphasize the characteristics of the area meanwhile share it with the public, KMH systematically analyzes, collects and maintains the history track and multiculturalism of Kaohsiung, shows the essential meaning of people living in Kaohsiung and represents the cultural relics and historical data of contemporary social events or issues as the basis of research, exhibitions and education promotion.

Transportation

The museum is accessible within walking distance North East from Yanchengpu Station of the

Kaohsiung MRT Kaohsiung Metro () is a rapid transit and light rail system covering the metropolitan area of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Its rapid transit network is known as Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit or Kaohsiung MRT. Construction of the MRT started in October 200 ...

or by city bus or by taking city bike.

References

External links