Weltevreden complex still stands proud

Weltevreden complex still stands proud

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Preservationists have been very upset after noticing the rear
of the former Supreme Court building in Central Jakarta has been
damaged by a developer. Their distress is not surprising, though,
since the protected Dutch inheritance, together with the other
offices in the Ministry of Finance complex, are known as the
oldest government office complex that still exists and, up until
now, has been well-managed since the Batavia period. This is the
26th article in the Saturday series about old and protected
buildings in Jakarta.

JAKARTA (JP): In the early 19th century during the glory days
of Batavia, a swampy, wooded area called Weltevreden was chosen
by the Dutch governor general as the location for a new city
center.

It's designed to replace the old city center, known as the
"walled city", which was located in the now bustling Chinatown
shopping and residential area of Kota, in West Jakarta.

Governor-General Herman Willem Daendels, who ruled the Dutch
East Indies from 1807 to 1811, moved the city center from the
walled city to Weltevreden for sanitary reasons.

The old city center was built in 1619 by Jan Pieterszoon Coen,
a former Dutch governor general, dubbed by many as the founder of
Batavia. It was already dirty and poorly managed and could no
longer represent a city center a la Europe.

Daendels conjured from the new site in the wooded, swampy
area, a first-class city center with magnificent office buildings
and vast beautiful gardens.

To achieve his dream, the governor general moved most of the
important materials from the old city center to Weltevreden.

According to historian Adolf Heuken in his book Historical
Sites of Jakarta, Daendels even tore down several properties,
including the ancient castle of Coen in the old city center.

Archeologist Candrian Attahiyat said Daendels, for reasons
unknown, buried a variety of items taken from the walled city in
the Weltevreden area.

"When the museum and restoration agency excavated the earth
during the demolition of Siliwangi military housing complex in
1987, we found, among other things, 11 old canon, several pieces
of ceramics, shells, and horseshoes," said Candrian, senior staff
with the agency.

The artifacts were found one meter beneath the surface, he
added.

Bull's Square

In the early days, Weltevreden, named after the biggest and
most splendid mansion in Batavia erected near the site, only
covered a small plot of land at the place now popularly called
Lapangan Banteng (Bull's Square) area.

The site of the new city center was known by many names over
the years, changing with the changing of ownership, each time new
authorities arrived in Batavia.

In the 17th century, the area was called Paviljoensveld
(Paviljoen field), after the owner Anthonij Paviljoen.
Unfortunately, his personal data has been hard to find.

In 1693, the land became the property of Cornelis Chastelein,
a member of the Indies Council. Chastelein then named the site
Weltevreden, meaning well contented, which he took from a
country-house he built nearby.

The Weltevreden mansion was the biggest and most elegant
building of the time and became the residence of many governor
generals, Unfortunately, it aged poorly over the years and was
eventually demolished.

In 1797, the Dutch authority started to develop and expand the
site, turning it into an administrative and military area.

Daendels' decided on March 7, 1809 to build a new "palace" for
governor generals at Weltevreden. The site would also be used for
the construction of a new city center of Batavia to replace the
walled city, now deteriorated, overcrowded and suffering from bad
sanitation.

The "palace", now used as the vast office complex for the
Ministry of Finance, was designed "in pure Empire style", Heuken
said in his book.

But Daendels was unable to finish the work as he was replaced
by Jan Willem Janssens. The building was accomplished in 1828
under the authority of Governor General Du Bus de Ghisignies.

But the "palace" was never utilized as Daendels had dreamt.
The building has housed all kinds of government offices, a state
printing press, a post office and the high court of the Dutch
colonial administration.

"The court was transferred in 1848 to the neo-classical
building located just next to the 'palace' on its northern side,"
Heuken wrote.

Statue

Originally, the building had a monument to Jan Pieterszoon
Coen installed a few meters in front of the office complex and a
statue of a lion erected on a high column at the center of the
huge field in front of the building. The lion was the symbol of
the colonial government.

The presence of the lion statue led people at the time to call
the field Lapangan Singa (Lion's Square).

According to Heuken, the statue was designed as a memorial for
the famous Battle of Waterloo. The square was then called
Waterlooplein, he added.

The lion statue, Heuken wrote, was destroyed by Japanese
colonialists, while the Coen statue was dismantled after the
independence of Indonesia.

The new name of the square, Lapangan Banteng, was introduced
by the Indonesian government following the 1945 Independence.
There are several versions of the history of the name.

Some local reports imply that the new name was derived from
the fact that the area was once used for bull hunting.

But Candrian said the name was taken from the symbol of the
Indonesian National Party (PNI), a leading political party at
that time.

"Thank God that the square was not named Lapangan Beringin
(Banyan Tree Square) after the biggest political party, Golkar,"
he said, referring to the powerful party during Soeharto era that
uses a banyan tree as its symbol.

The fame and splendor of the Daendels' "palace", the Waterloo
Square, and the Weltevreden area still persist these days and are
relatively still well maintained compared to other old complexes
in the city.

The square is now the site of a huge football field surrounded
by big trees and busy streets.

The square has become a popular site for homosexuals and
gigolos at night time.