A Million History in Bank Indonesia Museum
Feel the thrill of exploring history in a modern digital atmosphere!
Location: Pintu Besar Utara Street №3 Kelurahan Pinangsia, Taman Sari District, West Jakarta City, DKI Jakarta Province. (In front of Beos City Station)
Entrance Ticket Price : Rp. 5000
Operation hours:
· Tuesday — Friday (8:00–15:00),
· Saturday — Sunday (8:00–16:00)
· (Monday and national holidays are closed)
Telephone: 021–2600158
Email: museum@bi.go.id
Transportation:
- Commuter line:
· Take the Bogor — Jakarta Kota train, get off at Jakarta city station. Then walk as far as 350 meters via Jalan Kota Station and Jalan Pintu Besar Utara.
· Take the Bogor-Angke train, get off at Tanah Abang Station. Then ride Mikrolet majoring in Tanah Abang-Kota. Get off near the station then walk 350 meters via Jalan Stasiun Kota and Jalan Besar Utara.
· Take the Bogor-Angke train, get off at Tanah Abang Station. Then ride Mikrolet majoring in Tanah Abang-Kota. Get off near the station then walk 350 meters via Jalan Stasiun Kota and Jalan Besar Utara.
· Take the train heading for Rangkas Bitung — Tanah Abang, get off at Tanah Abang Station. Then ride Mikrolet majoring in Tanah Abang-Kota. Get off near the station then walk 350 meters via Jalan Stasiun Kota and Jalan Besar Utara.
- Transjakarta:
· Take a Transjakarta bus heading for the City, then get off at the Kota Transjakarta stop. Then walk 260 meters via Jalan Station Kota and Jalan Pintu Besar Utara.
· Take the Transjakarta bus corridor 12, heading to Pluit — Tanjung Priok, get off at the Fatahillah Museum stop. Then walk as far as 550 meters via Jalan Pintu Besar Utara.
Bank Indonesia Museum is a cultural heritage located in Kota Tua, Jakarta. Initially this building was owned by Dutch East Indies and was named De Javasche Bank. This bank was then used as the central bank at that time. In 1953, after Indonesia’s independence, De Javasche Bank was later nationalized to become Bank Indonesia. This museum has a function to provide information, both visually and audio, about various banking activities in Indonesia, starting from the Dutch colonial era until now.
At present Bank Indonesia Museum has turned into a cyber museum because of various sophisticated equipment available here, such as LCDs, touch screens, static panels, dioramas, plasma televisions and parabolic speakers. This museum also often holds various events, such as seminars or talk shows. Usually the event is related to current issues related to banking or history.
History
In 1625, this area was previously a church that was built for Protestants at that time. But in 1968, the church was later demolished to be a place to put a giant cannon when the Sultan Agung and tens of thousands of his troops attacked Batavia. After the attack was successfully thwarted, the giant cannon was later made into a hospital called Binnenhospital.
Binnenhospital hospital was moved to Weltevreden (now Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta) in 1780. The abandoned hospital building later was bought by a trading firm named Mac Quoid Davidson & Co. in 1801 and sold to De Javasche Bank in 1831.
Because they wanted to make a new building, so the old building was demolished in the early 1900s. The new building was designed by Eduard Cuypers, a well-known Dutch architect who owns the Eduard Cuypers & Hulswit Architect Bureau (now Architecten & Ingeniursbureau Fermont-Cuypers). This development was carried out in five stages. Interestingly, Cuypers also included original Indonesian elements in the design.
In 1909, the front of building was successfully completed. This section is a combination of Neo-Renaissance style architecture and Javanese ornaments. While on the inside it underwent a slight renovation in 1926. The building was then named Netherlands Indies Gulden or De Javasche Bank. Dutch East Indies government functioned this building as a central bank to serve banking activities at that time.
In 1942, the Japanese succeeded in expelling Dutch and controlling Dutch East Indies. Even so, Dutch expulsion apparently didn’t have a major influence on this bank. The building still functioned as a central bank until Indonesian independence in 1945.
After Indonesia’s independence in 1945, there were still some battles with the Dutch who still didn’t want to recognize Indonesian independence. As a result, Indonesia had to postpone their desire to nationalize De Javasche Bank until 1963 that De Javasche Bank was successfully nationalized as Bank Indonesia. But the bank was not made the center of the central bank. Because a new building was built in 1962.
Old building which had been abandoned was finally converted into a museum in 2006. The museum has been inaugurated twice, first on December 15, 2006 by Governor of Bank Indonesia at that time, Burhanuddin Abdullah and second was on July 21, 2009 by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia at that time.
Collections
- Money
Banks certainly cannot be separated from money. There are various types of money that you can see here, namely the money of archipelago era, colonial era, beginning of Republic of Indonesia independence, RIS government, estate token money, and special money that was only issued during important events.
The collection of money here consists of coins and paper. Not only those from Indonesia, there are also money collections from abroad such as India and Arabia.
- Printing machines and money destroyers
As a central bank, this bank was used to print money. In 1944, under Japanese supervision, this place was used to print the first Indonesian rupiah, Dutch East Indies Rupiah, which was made to replace Dutch Indies Gulden currency.
There are several money printing machines, one of which is the ORI printing press. This machine is very meritorious for printing the ORI (Oeang Republik Indonesia) currency which is used to replace the Japanese and NICA currencies.
You can also find a money shredder here. The tool which is named pond machine made of iron is used to destroy banknotes that are not worthy to circulation. You do this by cutting in the shape of a star as a sign that the money is worthless. This machine can perforate 100 bills in just one piece!
- Gold bar
Not only payment instruments in the form of money, in this museum you can also find stacks of gold bullion replicas. That function is as foreign exchange reserves from Indonesia today. The aim is to illustrate Indonesia’s readiness a monetary crisis that may come one day. One gold bar weighs 13.5 kg. If converted, gold with that weight could have a price range of 6.7–7 billion Rupiah!
- Dioramas
Since passing the storage place, you will be presented with dioramas about various charging activities. Not only about banking activities, there are also dioramas about the post-independence Indonesian revolution, meeting activities at the Binnenhospital, to past trading activities.
This diorama was made exactly as it was in its time. For example, banking dioramas in colonial times that used clothes and hairstyles typical of that era. The position of diorama also illustrates the activities being carried out at the time.
- Miniature of Javanese Ship (Jung Java)
No responsibility, this museum also has a miniature from the Java Boat or Jung Java. Jung in ancient Javanese means big ship. This ship is indeed the largest Indonesian fleet in the 8th century. Its distinctive features are the bow of the ship which is curved, the stern of a tall ship, a large deck house, and has a double paddle.
Besides this the deck of the ship was also closed because it was used to place goods. The back of this ship is a captain’s room on which can be filled by two to six people. They will take turns driving the ship with oars on each side.
- De Javasche Bank Blueprint
Besides the miniature of Bank Indonesia museum, you can also find blueprints from De Javasche Bank. This Blueprint illustrates the development framework of this bank. There is a sensor next to this blueprint. You can use this sensor according to the instructions on the blueprint to see something interesting. Curious? Just come to the Bank Indonesia Museum!
Guide Trip
After entering through the main door, you will immediately be presented with typical interiors of ancient Dutch era buildings.
Before entering the rooms in this museum, you must put your luggage in the locker room. After that you can go directly to the lobby. There you can see ancient window glass made in 1935 that captivates the eye. There’s also a visitor center to get various information about existing rooms.
The journey starts from the transition room. As the name implies, this room with holographic technology provides information about coins past to the present. You can also enjoy while reading information from falling coins. If you want to take pictures here, don’t turn on the camera flash.
Satisfied with transmission room, it’s time to watch a movie in the theater room! This room can accommodate up to 30 visitors. This theater plays films about the process of printing, distribution and history of Bank Indonesia. Theater space is usually only opened when there are groups or visitors in large numbers. After watching, you can enter the Bank Indonesia History Room. There is an old map and replica that tells the historical activities in the archipelago here.
Starting from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the De Javasche Bank era. There is information about world famous explorers such as Marco Polo and Cornelis de Houtman.
Information about historical activities there you can find out through information boards, LCDs and voices explaining the event. There are also dioramas concerning banking activities to the replication of the post-independence uprising.
After that you will enter the periodic room. As the name implies, this room tells the history of Indonesian banking periodically. There are six rooms here. The first room discusses the era of independence (1953–1959), the second room deals with the era of guided economy (1959–1966), the third room tells the Era of Stabilization, Rehabilitation, and Economics (1966–1983), the fourth room discusses the era of economic development (1983–1997) , the fifth room focuses on the era of monetary crisis (1997–1999), and the last room tells the era of reform (1999–2005). You can also find discussions about Syariah banking (1905–2013) here.
After exploring time in periodic room, you can see various replicas of the boardroom from De Javasche Bank to Bank Indonesia. Starting from the meeting room to the director’s room can be seen here. Complete with a typewriter, telephone, and other supporting tools. Interestingly, there is a diorama of the activities being carried out in the room. You can also find a contemplation room which is a replica of a room in the Binnenhospital, complete with the diorama.
Next you will be directed to a door that has three rooms. First is the monetary gold space. There are stacks of gold bullion replicas here. One gold bar here weighs 13.5 kg. This replica aims to give an overview of foreign exchange reserves in the form of gold owned by Indonesia.
Second is the numismatic space which provides a chronological arrangement of Indonesian money collections. Starting from the money in the royal era in the archipelago to a special money usually made to commemorate important events. The funny thing is, there is a coin-shaped seat that you can sit on if you feel tired.
And third is the space for issuance and circulation of money. In this room you can see an explanation of the process of issuing and circulating money. Starting from the planning, procurement of materials, printing, to destruction of money you can read here. There is also an explanation of the chronology of the use of ORI (Oeang Republik Indonesia) currency with the form of colored comics on the walls of this room. You can also see ORI money printing machines and replica crates containing ancient money.
Then there is the institutional and policy cluster room (2012–2016 period). This room is a new cluster that was established in 2018. This cluster of Bank Indonesia policies has a modern, contemporary feel typical of millennials. The information contained in this room includes BI-7 Days Reverse Repo Rate, payment technology, and new money design. Everything is displayed digitally and interactively. Interestingly, you can take pictures with the hologram money found here.
Finally, there is the Building Architecture Cluster room which was also inaugurated in 2018. This room contains information about this building. Starting from the Binnenhospital House, De Javasche Bank, to becoming the Museum of Bank Indonesia. There is a miniature from the Museum of Bank Indonesia that you can see here. In addition, there are also materials used to build museums and blueprints from the de Javasche Bank development.
Satisfied exploring the museum, it’s time to buy souvenirs. You can buy it at the souvenir shop right after the architecture cluster. You can also relax at the museum cafe, book stalls, function rooms and fine dining restaurants in the Museum of Bank Indonesia.
