Narrative Text

The History of Lawang Sewu

Lawang Sewu was one of the Historical Buildings built by the Dutch colonial government, on February 27, 1904. The building originally established for used as Het Hoofdkantoor van de Nederlansch Indische Spoorweg Maatscappij (NIS) or as a Private Railway Private Company Office NIS.

Local people called Lawang Sewu (Thousand Doors) because it had so many doors. In fact, the door itself  were not up to a thousand. This building had so many windows which were high and large, that’s why the  people often called it as a door (in Javanese: Lawang).

kaskus.co.id

This ancient and magnificent building which had 2 floors  was used as a Djawatan Kereta Api Repoeblik Indonesia (DKARI) or now is existing as PT Kereta Api Indonesia after independence. Moreover, once used as the Office of National Infrastructures Regional Military Command (Kodam IV / Diponegoro) and the Regional Office (Kanwil) and Ministry of Transportation Central Java. During the struggle, this building had it’s own historical story that was when the incident of Pertempuran Lima Hari di Semarang took place (October 14th–October 19th, 1945).

This old building became the place of a great battle between the youth of AMKA  (Angkatan Muda Kereta Api) against Kempeitai and Kidobutai, Japan. Therefore, the Government of Semarang, with Mayor Decree Number. 650/50/1992, put Lawang Sewu into one of 102 ancient or historical buildings in the city of Semarang that should be protected.

Modified from: http://betulcerita.blogspot.co.id/2015/01/sejarah-bangunan-lawang-sewu-semarang.html

Photo               : https://www.kaskus.co.id/thread/5747b17a162ec2e1118b4567/melirik-lebih-dalam-sisi-keindahan-dan-kemisteriusan-lawang-sewu/