LAWANG SEWU
Hello. In this new travel note, I am going to the famous place and the landmark of my city, Semarang, this building called Lawang Sewu or the Thousand Doors. This building is located in the city center of Semarang. Precisely located near Tugu Muda roundabout on the end of Pemuda Street. This building formerly was an office of Nederlandsch Indische Spoorweg Matschaapij/ Netherlands Indies Railway Company (NIS) for Central Java in Dutch Colonialism Era.
Lawang Sewu was built by the Dutch Colonialist on February 27, 1904 and finished on 1907 by Prof. Jacob F. Klinkhammer and B.J. Quendag as an architect. The design of the building was drawed in Netherlands, and the finished design was brought to Semarang. The origin of the name of the building came from the shape of the windows that big and wide like a door so the amount of the door like a thousand doors even though the original amount of the door was 429. So, the people called the building named Lawang Sewu. The background of Lawang Sewu Development was related with the history of railway transportation in Indonesia, especially in Semarang. The administration office in NIS in 1873 was on Semarang Gudang Station but when the railway transportation on this era was very developed, the amount of employee was increased and the office in Semarang Gudang was not deserve for the office because the health and comfort issue for the employees. On Japan Settlement Era, Japan Military Governement taken over Lawang Sewu as the Army Observation Office and the jail for the dangerous civilian. The prove of the dark history was proven from the underground water tank, originally, the underground water tank as the air conditioner but it was changed as the dungeon jail for the civilian prisoners and also torturement and execution room.
After the Proclamation of Independence was declared on August 17, 1945, the youth of Indonesia wa full of spirit to taking over Lawang Sewu from Japan's own. Lawang Sewu became the witness of the historical event in Semarang named Pertempuran Lima Hari that Lawang Sewu became the office of Kidobutai. After the battle and revolution era, Lawang Sewu was always changing the ownership, from the Army Office, National Railway Enterprises of Indonesia (DKARI/PJKA), and became the heritage asset of PT.KAI (persero) until nowadays.
Lawang Sewu had a dark side or mysterious stories like the ghosts or ghouls that always haunted like Dutch Army ghoul, Japanese Army ghoul, Dutch Lady ghoul, and many more because this building was had an underground prison and jail and the condition of the building before renovation was abandoned. The renovation of the building was begun in 2009 and finished in a year later, the building that was very haunted, mystical, and creppy in the past becoming beautiful in nowadays. The underground jail tourism was closed in 2014 and the tourism in Lawang Sewu now focused on the railway history of Indonesia.
Lawang Sewu documentated the history of the building development and renovation until the history of railway transportation in Indonesia, especially in Semarang. In there, we can see the collection of material of Lawang Sewu, the things that related with railway transportation history like mechanic signal machine, ticketing machine, train dispatcher equipment, the uniform in DKARI era, the maps of railway line, the miniature of steam locomotives, coaches, and the paintings of the historical buildings that related with railway transportation history in Indonesia. Lawang Sewu also has an audiovisual room which always playing a video about the railway transportation history in Indonesia.
Lawang Sewu has some rooms that can be rented for the events like seminar, workshop, expo, and more. Lawang Sewu also has a multimedia equipment for the learning the history of railway transportation in Indonesia, especially in Semarang with the touchscreen or pyramid display screen. In audiovisual room, we can watched the video of railway transportation history in Indonesia and the documentation of railway activity in Indonesia from Colonial Era. Lawang Sewu has an audiovisual room that provided the audiovisual media about the railway history and the upper floor, we can see the structure of Lawang Sewu rooftop and you can see the exploded mortar crack on the rooftop. Lawang Sewu has a multimedia devices like projector for explanation of railway transportation history of Indonesia. On the other side of the buiding, we can see the gallery of paintings, photographs, and some historical documentation of railway transportation history in Indonesia. The paintings and photographs inside tells the story of indonesian railway transportation history and development.
From the outside of the building, we can see the two monuments of locomotive such as the monument of the steam locomotive C2301 and the monument of electric locomotive ESS3201 or the people called "Djokotop" as a part of the history. But for up to the second floor from the main hall is impossible without the exact reason, the atmosphere of this place is very nostalgic.
Lawang Sewu is very recommended for those who love history travelling and for all ages because this place is very attractive and has a historical value inside.
After the Proclamation of Independence was declared on August 17, 1945, the youth of Indonesia wa full of spirit to taking over Lawang Sewu from Japan's own. Lawang Sewu became the witness of the historical event in Semarang named Pertempuran Lima Hari that Lawang Sewu became the office of Kidobutai. After the battle and revolution era, Lawang Sewu was always changing the ownership, from the Army Office, National Railway Enterprises of Indonesia (DKARI/PJKA), and became the heritage asset of PT.KAI (persero) until nowadays.
Lawang Sewu had a dark side or mysterious stories like the ghosts or ghouls that always haunted like Dutch Army ghoul, Japanese Army ghoul, Dutch Lady ghoul, and many more because this building was had an underground prison and jail and the condition of the building before renovation was abandoned. The renovation of the building was begun in 2009 and finished in a year later, the building that was very haunted, mystical, and creppy in the past becoming beautiful in nowadays. The underground jail tourism was closed in 2014 and the tourism in Lawang Sewu now focused on the railway history of Indonesia.
Lawang Sewu documentated the history of the building development and renovation until the history of railway transportation in Indonesia, especially in Semarang. In there, we can see the collection of material of Lawang Sewu, the things that related with railway transportation history like mechanic signal machine, ticketing machine, train dispatcher equipment, the uniform in DKARI era, the maps of railway line, the miniature of steam locomotives, coaches, and the paintings of the historical buildings that related with railway transportation history in Indonesia. Lawang Sewu also has an audiovisual room which always playing a video about the railway transportation history in Indonesia.
Lawang Sewu has some rooms that can be rented for the events like seminar, workshop, expo, and more. Lawang Sewu also has a multimedia equipment for the learning the history of railway transportation in Indonesia, especially in Semarang with the touchscreen or pyramid display screen. In audiovisual room, we can watched the video of railway transportation history in Indonesia and the documentation of railway activity in Indonesia from Colonial Era. Lawang Sewu has an audiovisual room that provided the audiovisual media about the railway history and the upper floor, we can see the structure of Lawang Sewu rooftop and you can see the exploded mortar crack on the rooftop. Lawang Sewu has a multimedia devices like projector for explanation of railway transportation history of Indonesia. On the other side of the buiding, we can see the gallery of paintings, photographs, and some historical documentation of railway transportation history in Indonesia. The paintings and photographs inside tells the story of indonesian railway transportation history and development.
From the outside of the building, we can see the two monuments of locomotive such as the monument of the steam locomotive C2301 and the monument of electric locomotive ESS3201 or the people called "Djokotop" as a part of the history. But for up to the second floor from the main hall is impossible without the exact reason, the atmosphere of this place is very nostalgic.
Lawang Sewu is very recommended for those who love history travelling and for all ages because this place is very attractive and has a historical value inside.
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