Entering Lawang Sewu through the main door, you are struck by the sight of an elegant stained-glass window at the top of the stairs. The window is both artistic and full of symbolism. Its most prominent feature is two young Dutch girls, with an image of a wheel between them. Suranto (64), the caretaker of this Dutch colonial building, explains the imagery. “Each square in this window represents something. The crown in the upper center is a symbol of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The wheel between the two girls symbolizes the railroad. Below the wheel, these sheets are meant to be Javanese batik.”
On this clear morning, the sunlight illuminates the window, sharpening its colors, and fills the space with a gentle warmth. Lovely.
Beyond the stained-glass window lies the office of the head of the Dutch colonial railroad. Suranto, familiarly called Mbah (Grandpa) Ranto, refers to it as “the Commander’s room”. It’s well ventilated and very comfortable, with a good view of the city park from its balcony.
Given its stunningly unique architecture, it’s not surprising to learn that it took three years and hundreds of local workers to build it.
The Railroad Building
NV Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NIS), the Netherlands Indies Railroad Company, was the pioneer of Indonesia’s railroads. On 17 June 1864, NIS began construction of the Semarang-Yogyakarta railway line, with the first shovelful dug by the Netherlands Indies Governor General, Sloet van den Beele.
This increased activity meant that NIS needed a new, more suitable office for the related administrative work. The location they chose was at the end of Jalan Bojong (now Jalan Pemuda). According to the official history of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the building, located at the intersection of Jalan Pandanaran, Jalan Dr. Soetomo and Jalan Soegijapranata, was designed by the architect Ir. P. de Rieau.
Several of the building’s blueprints are extant, including A 387 Ned. Ind. Spoorweg Maatschappij made in February 1902, A 388 E Idem Lengtedoorsnede (September 1902), and A 541 NISM Semarang Voorgevel Langevlenel (1903), all drawn up in Amsterdam. But Sloet van den Beele died before the construction began. The Dutch government then appointed Prof. Jacob K. Klinkhamer and BJ Oudang to handle construction of the NIS building in Semarang, referring to Dutch architectural style.
Apparently, the building site’s location at the end of an intersection inspired the two architects to create a building with several wings: a main building, a left wing, and a right wing, in a style that was then quite modern, a forerunner of the art deco style that became popular between the World Wars.
Before construction began, the entire building site was excavated to a depth of four meters. The excavated space was then filled in with volcanic sand from Gunung Merapi. The foundation was laid starting on 27 February 1904, using heavy cement construction, and upon that was erected a wall of split stones. All the main building materials were brought from Europe, apart from bricks, mountain stones, and teak wood. The building now called “Lawang Sewu” was inaugurated on 1 July 1907.
The building, which still belongs to the Indonesian state railroad company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI), served as the head office of Jawatan Kereta Api Indonesia immediately after independence. It was then used as the office of the Infrastructure Agency of Regional Military Command IV/Diponegoro, and then, until 1994, as the Central Java Regional Office of the Department of Transportation. Since then, Lawang Sewu has been empty, occupied only by four consecutive caretakers, of whom Suranto is one of them.
Typical Dutch Drainage
The Dutch are famous for their excellent water management; they plan ahead to prevent floods even where none have ever occurred. This building is equipped with such a drainage system. Below the building are empty cavities always ready to accommodate rainwater. These spaces are connected to one another, and then flow to the river leading to the sea. These culverts are not small-scale ones that tend to clog; they are large enough for people to walk through, and were regularly maintained.
The twin towers on the building are rainwater cisterns, which supplied all the building’s water needs.