Raden Saleh mansion now a hospital

Raden Saleh mansion now a hospital

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Cikini Hospital, noted for its vast garden and giant old
trees, celebrated its 102nd anniversary on Wednesday last week.
What used to be the elegant mansion of Raden Saleh Sjarif
Bustaman, one of the country's few world-class painters, the
Christian-run hospital is now one of the oldest and most
protected buildings in the country. Following is the 22nd article
in a series on Jakarta's historical sites and buildings,
appearing in Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): In the 1970s, those being treated at or visiting
Cikini Hospital could see groups of antelope playing and running
about in the vast garden.

Since the number of the animals, which originally belonged to
the late Raden Saleh Sjarif Bustaman (1811-1880), a keen animal
lover who originally owned the land, grew so rapidly and often
ate the grass and trees in the area and broke fences, the
management of the hospital, run by the Communion of Churches in
Indonesia (PGI) since 1957, finally decided to move the antelope
to other areas owned by the communion.

The presence of the antelope also attracted visitors,
particularly children, who fed the animals. There had been
several incidents in which the antelopes bit the children.

Unlike many other old hospitals across the country, Cikini
Hospital, located slightly back from busy Jl. Raden Saleh in
Central Jakarta, has rooms which are built like small villas.

The other distinct difference between Cikini Hospital and
other hospitals is its well-kempt park, full of towering old
trees.

Walking through the hospital's garden, it's easy to forget you
are still in heavily-polluted Jakarta.

Apart of the park's wonderful scenery, the most magnificent
part of the 102-year-old hospital is the main building located at
the center.

The main building, used in the past as a meeting hall, was
designed by Raden Saleh himself in the 1850s with a mixed "West
and East" architectural style that no one could exactly identify.

"Raden Saleh often went abroad and used to spend long periods
of time in the Netherlands and Germany, where he was inspired by
their architectural styles," said Djauhari Sumintardja, an expert
on old buildings at the privately owned Tarumanegara University
in West Jakarta.

Like many other old buildings in the city, the interior of the
two-story mansion consists of a big hall with several rooms to
its right and left and a round balcony. At a glance, the interior
is much more like a concert hall rather than just a meeting room
of a resident.

According to Djauhari, one of the most unique aspects of the
building is its windows, the style of which is usually found in
mosques.

"The windows are characteristic of Islamic architecture," he
said.

In the old days of Batavia, Raden Saleh's mansion was located
in a suburb of Cikini, the expert explained.

A book titled Raden Saleh, Prince among Romantic Painters
reveals the mansion was constructed with "strange and
astonishing" taste.

German Ambassador to Indonesia, Heinrich Seemann, wrote in the
book 100 Years of Cikini Hospital, issued by the hospital, that
the building was a replica of the main building of a German
castle called Callenberg.

"The original stands on a fortified hill surrounded by walls
and towers and is situated near Coburg, right in the heart of
Germany," the ambassador said.

Wild animals

In earlier days, the hospital hall was the only building
within the some 100 hectares of Raden Saleh's original compound,
encircled by a vast garden. Some people referred to it as a small
wild forest due to the artist's large collection of wild animals.

An observer on old buildings, Wisnu Murti Ardjo, said the
collection included lions, deer, snakes and tigers.

Raden Saleh's garden, of Javanese origin, was turned into a
zoo by Gemeente Batavia, the city administration during the Dutch
colonial period, when the painter was visiting Germany in the
late 1880s prior to his death in Bogor, West Java, in 1880, Wisnu
said.

Many believe the animals were models for many of Raden Saleh's
masterpieces, some of which are kept at world-class museums in
Europe.

Many parts of the large garden remain as they were but several
changes have been made by both the Dutch colonists and PGI
management.

The takeover of Raden Saleh's mansion by PGI is still unclear,
but Rev. Dharma Angkuw, head of the hospital's spiritual service,
wrote in the commemoration book that the estate was bought in
June 1897 by the management of Koningin Emma Ziekenhuis (Queen
Emma Hospital).

The hospital was pioneered by Dutch woman Adriana Josina de
Graaf-Kooman, wife of Rev. Cornelis de Graaf, who was a Dutch
missionary in Indonesia between 1873 and 1905.

Rev. Dharma said Adriana was famous for her charity work,
taking care of the sick while accompanying her husband.

When Adriana spent her holidays in the Netherlands, she
received enough support to open a health service in the Dutch
East Indies (as Indonesia was called at that time) and collected
donations; Dutch Queen Emma donated 100,000 Guilders.

The hospital, then named Koningin Emma Ziekenhuis, initially
started its public service at the so-called Gang Pool area, which
is now known as the site of the Baiturrahman Mosque at the
presidential palace complex in Central Jakarta.

Since the hospital needed more space, the management decided
to buy Raden Saleh's estate and inaugurated the hospital on Jan.
12, 1898.

On Aug. 1, 1913, Queen Emma Hospital became independent and
changed its name to Tjikini Hospital, "because it did not want to
become a Christian hospital," the management said in 100 Year
Cikini Hospital.

Forty-four years later, the hospital changed its name to DGI
(the Council of Churches in Indonesia) Cikini Hospital after the
management of the hospital was handed over to the council of
Protestant churches.

In 1984, it was changed to PGI Cikini Hospital following the
change of the term "church council" (DGI) to "church communion"
(PGI) in 1984.