Traces of Freemasonry in Jakarta's Historic Building

Amidst the bustling activity of Jakarta’s city centre, several historic buildings stand that harbour long historical narratives. One such structure is the Loji Bintang Timur (Eastern Star Lodge) building on Jalan Budi Utomo, which remains standing today.

This historic building is currently used as an office for PT Kimia Farma Tbk, a state-owned pharmaceutical company. However, in the past, the building served a different purpose, having functioned as a meeting place for the Freemason organisation, also known as Vrijmetselarij.

Freemasonry is one of the world’s oldest fraternal organisations, focusing on the moral, spiritual, and social development of its members. Rooted in the medieval stonemasons’ guilds, the group is today known as an association emphasising values of brotherhood, charity, and religious tolerance, although it is often associated with secret rituals.

Each member of the organisation at that time contributed 100 guilders to support the construction of their meeting building. The accumulated funds were then used to construct a sufficiently grand lodge or meeting house for the era.

The building was designed in neoclassical architectural style combined with local elements. This fusion is evident from the symmetrical form with large columns characteristic of European architecture, whilst adapting to local climatic conditions.

In the past, the building featured a distinctive emblem on its front: a symbol in the form of an Eastern Star. This emblem became a symbol associated with the Freemason organisation. The presence of this symbol led the community to refer to the building as the Loji Bintang Timur. In colonial tradition, the term “loji” referred to buildings used as meeting places or venues for activities of specific organisations.

After Indonesian independence, the building’s function underwent changes. The Loji Bintang Timur was subsequently used as an office for a Dutch-owned pharmaceutical company. Significant changes occurred in the 1950s when the Indonesian government undertook the nationalisation of various foreign companies. In this process, the Dutch pharmaceutical company using the building was also nationalised.

Since then, the historic building became part of the national pharmaceutical company and has been used as an office for PT Kimia Farma until the present day.

Meanwhile, the Freemason organisation in Indonesia ceased operations after the government took action to dissolve it. In 1962, President Sukarno formally dissolved the Freemason organisation in Indonesia. This policy marked the end of the organisation’s activities, which had been quite active during the colonial period.