Cikini Walking Tour, from "Raden Saleh Palace" to Bakoel Koffie

TheIndonesia.id - The Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) Art Center may be the most prominent landmark on Jalan Cikini Raya, Jakarta, today. But the Cikini area is more than that. The 1-kilometer-road in the center of Jakarta has a long history that has stretched since the colonial era.

Cikini continues to grow decade after decade, moving from the 19th century to the 21st century. Modernity comes to Cikini, growing, tidying up, and preening the surrounding.

Jakarta Provincial Government through the Tourism and Creative Economy Office has seen the historical values of Cikini. They will provide an added value for urban tourism development with the walking tour concept which is being finalized at the moment.

The Head of Marketing and Attractions of Jakarta's Department of Tourism and Creative Economy, Hari Wibowo, said that Cikini's historical map has its charm for tourists.

“There are a lot of special things here. There is Bakoel Koffie, several new culinary attractions in the Cikini area. There is the house of late Ahmad Soebardjo, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs. It's also interesting. The house is very big," said Hari when met by ANTARA some time ago.

The Cikini Walking Tour idea, said Hari, stems from the community's growing interest to spend time in this area. Moreover, Cikini has been supported by a qualified infrastructure. The sidewalk infrastructure along Jalan Cikini Raya was completed in 2019, equipped with guiding blocks, bollards or small dividing poles, park benches, bus stops, and wayfinding. With such complete pedestrian facilities, the concept of walking tour tourism is more likely to be developed.

To implement this plan, Jakarta's Department of Tourism and Creative Economy cooperates with Jakarta Tourisindo Ltd or the Jakarta Experience Board (JXB), associations of travel agents, to a community of tour guides who are professionals in their fields.

Event & Product Specialist PT Jakarta Tourisindo, Muhammad Rayhan Islamy, said they will launch this tourism concept as soon as possible. He hopes the Cikini Walking Tour can run in 2022 and be opened to the wider society.

“We want to launch it in January. We also see the pandemic condition because this tour (experience) is better done offline," he said.

He said, exploring Cikini's historical places on foot can be an alternative for post-pandemic tourism. Moreover, for pandemic safety protocol, the organizer can apply a limitation on walking tour participants in one group so that there is no need to jostle or crowd.

Later the tour guide will not only introduce interesting places but also invite tourists to imagine Cikini's past by going through a certain route, from Raden Saleh's "palace" to the contemporary era Bakoel Koffie shop.

When Indonesia was still called the Dutch East Indies, Cikini was a special area as the hinterland of Weltevreden or the area where the Europeans lived. During those time, a painter maestro and socialite Raden Saleh became the most extensive landowner in the Cikini area even though it only lasted 10 years. Raden Saleh's property area stretched from Taman Ismail Marzuki to what it is now Cikini Hospital.

On the property, he bought after returning from Europe, in 1852, the painter whose full name is Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman designed a "palace" which was inspired by Callenberg castle in Germany. The building still exists today, located within the Cikini Hospital complex. It has become a cultural heritage.

 

There have been minor changes since it was restored several times but Raden Saleh's house still looks magnificent. The architectural style of the building is Eclectic Neo-Gothic. One of the defining characteristics is the placement of the rose window on the pointed facade on the front. While the right and left wing porticoes are influenced by Middle Eastern or Moorish architecture.

The interior that stands out the most is the high-ceiling hall surrounded by a second-floor balcony with skylights that connect directly to the ground floor. The hall in European buildings is usually used by socialites to hold parties. The gate of Raden Saleh's house was located toward Jalan Cikini Raya, in line with the building orientation facing southwest.

Raden Saleh's love for animals is not only represented in his various paintings, he ended up keeping various types of animals in his backyard. Later in 1862, the park was donated to be a zoo and a public park named “Planten En Dierentuin”––the forerunner of the Cikini Zoo. In 1964, the zoo was relocated to Ragunan and in 1968, the former zoo was transformed into Taman Ismail Marzuki by Jakarta's Governor Ali Sadikin.

Behind the former Raden Saleh's house also stands another old building, Cikini Hospital Chapel, which was built in 1906 or after the hospital building was established. This chapel ornament is influenced by European architectural style. Just like Raden Saleh's house, this chapel has been awarded cultural heritage status.

Moving on a half a century after the hectares of land was no longer owned by Raden Saleh, Jalan Cikini Raya continues to grow in such a way becoming more modern. The Dutch East Indies government seemed to prepare the area as a hinterland for the Nieuw-Gondangdia housing (Elite Menteng settlement). This can be seen from the establishment of some supporting facilities, some of which are no longer intact and have even been lost and changed functions, including the park and zoo of the former Raden Saleh's.

One building that has not changed much is the Cikini Post Office (Tjikini Post Kantoor). The art-deco building located upstream of the road was built in 1920 and is still operating today. As part of Weltevreden, places built during the colonial period were automatically present mainly to meet the needs and lifestyles of European citizens.

 

Around the 1920s, this area also had a Zwembad Cikini (Cikini Swimming Pool) which was previously reserved for Europeans. Since 1898, the "De Spin" shop or Laba-Laba shop was established to make leather goods, such as bags and shoes. This shop is still operating today even though the building has been transformed and at first, looks no different from today's modern shop styles. Today, Laba-Laba specializes in shoes and bags repairs.

Cikini also has a special place in education. Not far from Laba-Laba, stands a school that was belonging to the Dutch East Indies government, Eerste School D (now changed to State Junior High School 1 Cikini), which was built in 1909. This school was the first indigenous school in Batavia. Besides Eerste School D, the Mayumi Particle People's School that was built during the Japanese occupation or now known as the Cikini College has also become popular in the area.

There are two unique shops that, although established after Indonesia's independence, their history has spanned since the 19th century, i.e. Tan Ek Tjoan bread and coffee from Bakoel Koffie. The Tan Ek Tjoan bakery began operating in the area in 1955, while the Bakoel Koffie shop only occupied the shop in 2002.

Tan Ek Tjoan started his presence in 1921 by opening a factory in Bogor. In the beginning, they only focused on the production of the daily food of Europeans in Bogor, namely 'roti gambang'. Along with the times, Tan Ek Tjoan produces various bread that can be enjoyed by all people. Although this oldest bakery in Jakarta and Bogor has moved to Ciputat, south of Jakarta, various types of Tan Ek Tjoan bread can still be found around Cikini peddled around using bicycle carts.

While Bakoel Koffie itself is an extension of Warung Tinggi business which was started in 1878. The owner, Liauw Tek Soen, founded the first coffee factory in Weltevreden under the name Tek Soen Hoo in 1927.

After Indonesia became a sovereign nation, many other buildings that later became legendary buildings were erected, including Ibu Dibjo's house which became her place of selling tickets business for various events (1963) to Hasyim Ning's most prominent luxury house in the Cikini area.

Several other buildings are no longer intact and have even been lost and changed functions but the products can still be found, namely the Tjan Njan or Tjanang ice cream shop (1951) which was the favorite ice cream of the first and the second President families. There was also the eyewear shop of A. Kasoem (1956), developed by Atjoem Kasoem, the first native owner of eyewear shop in Indonesia.