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| Source: Noordhollands Dagblad January 21, 2016 |
The city has a long history among others as a settlement of the Dutch East India Company, commonly abbreviated as the VOC, the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie. The old city still looks very European with a church in its center, wide boulevards and nice, spacious housing. Over the years this Dutch heritage deteriorated considerably. Lack of funds and maybe more important, a lack of interest to maintain these buildings erected by the former colonial rulers, caused the state in which it is now. If you add the humid, hot climate and the heavy traffic passing these buildings every day, the recipe for a disastrous development is there.
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| The Heerenstraat in the old center of Semarang |
However, there seems to be a change of mind in the city. According to The Jakarta Post the mayor of Semarang says he wants to renovate at least 105 buildings in the old center now called Kota Lama. An equivalent amount of € 2,000,000 is said to be available for this project. Tourism supposedly is the stimulus. In any case it is an indirect homage to two Dutch architects viz. Thomas Karsten en K.P.C. de Bazel. The latter one also designed glassware for the Leerdam glass works, but that is different subject.
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| Fragment of the 1917 city map of Semarang Source: www.semarang.nl, Semarang Photo Archives available under CC Licentie 3.0 Kota Lama, the old city center, is in the red rectangle |
My interest for this subject is caused by the knowledge that even today there are many people living here in the Netherlands who have been born in the former Dutch Indies. I also happen to have a collection of death notices of people born there (yes, ok, I agree it is a bit peculiar but in case you are interested it may be consulted here). All together there are over 800 notices in my collection now. 8% of these people were born in Semarang. So my guess is that there are still many people here who may be interested in their own place of birth or in that of their parents. Therefore, I tried to find out the old street names used in pre war Semarang. Those names are no doubt part of their family history.
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| Dutch street names in Kota Lama, the old Semarang city center To enlarge click on the image. Map ex Google |
| Semarang - Adihardjo 1925 |
| Semarang - Belloni 1950 |
| Semarang - Beukelmans 1924 |
| Semarang - Beukema toe Water 1913 |
| Semarang - Bochove 1939 |
| Semarang - Boot 1936 [1] |
| Semarang - Borlée 1923 |
| Semarang - Brakel 1923 |
| Semarang - Broekhuys 1923 |
| Semarang - Brouwer 1865 |
| Semarang - Coldenhoff 1934 |
| Semarang - Constandse 1922 |
| Semarang - Cosse 1929 |
| Semarang - de Boer 1924 |
| Semarang - de Groot 1927 |
| Semarang - de Ridder 1948 |
| Semarang - de Vries 1935 |
| Semarang - de Zeeuw 1913 |
| Semarang - Deinum 1918 |
| Semarang - Dinger 1928 |
| Semarang - Dirkzwager 1922 |
| Semarang - Dirkzwager 1924 |
| Semarang - Docters van Leeuwen 1911 |
| Semarang - Dorst 1940 |
| Semarang - Elink Schuurman 1916 |
| Semarang - Elink Schuurman 1921 |
| Semarang - Emmen 1926 |
| Semarang - Erenstein 1939 |
| Semarang - Evers 1941 |
| Semarang - Gülcher 1921 |
| Semarang - Haak ca1892 |
| Semarang - Han 1932 |
| Semarang - Hartog 1921 |
| Semarang - Hartog 1930 |
| Semarang - Hennephof 1932 |
| Semarang - Henseler 1930 |
| Semarang - Hombrink 1916 |
| Semarang - Hötte 1922 |
| Semarang - Houtzager 1940 |
| Semarang - Jäger 1909 |
| Semarang - Janssen 1929 |
| Semarang - Jonkman 1923 |
| Semarang - Jonkman 1925 |
| Semarang - Kahle 1932 |
| Semarang - Karsen 1916 |
| Semarang - Kerlen 1915 |
| Semarang - Kerlen 1917 |
| Semarang - Kerlen 1919 |
| Semarang - Kerlen 1921 |
| Semarang - Kessing 1941 |
| Semarang - Klerks ? 1891 [Wd] |
| Semarang - Kloppenburg 1917 |
| Semarang - Köehl 1923 |
| Semarang - Kollmann 1854 |
| Semarang - Koster 1949 |
| Semarang - Kouwenaar 1929 |
| Semarang - Lechner 1927 |
| Semarang - Lie 1926 |
| Semarang - Lieder 1926 |
| Semarang - Liem 1920 |
| Semarang - Liem 1922 |
| Semarang - Lincklaen Arriëns 1941 |
| Semarang - Lind 1924 |
| Semarang - Mac Gillavry 1916 |
| Semarang - Mac Gillavry 1931 |
| Semarang - Mac Gillavry 1934 |
| Semarang - Maingay 1929 |
| Semarang - Maingay 1933 |
| Semarang - Maingay 1934 |
| Semarang - Maseland 1931 |
| Semarang - Middeldorp 1928 |
| Semarang - Mijnlieff 1954 |
| Semarang - Moorrees 1925 |
| Semarang - Mual 1930 |
| Semarang - Mulder 1919 |
| Semarang - Muller 1935 |
| Semarang - Nazloomian 1926 |
| Semarang - Nota 1926 |
| Semarang - Oei 1938 |
| Semarang - Oetomo 1925 |
| Semarang - Oosterling 1934 |
| Semarang - Pels Rijcken 1921 |
| Semarang - Provoost 1939 |
| Semarang - Rempt 1924 |
| Semarang - Rens 1932 |
| Semarang - Roegholt 1925 |
| Semarang - Roelofsen 1936 |
| Semarang - Ruys 1912 |
| Semarang - Schenk 1929 |
| Semarang - Schilling 1926 |
| Semarang - Schmutzer 1884 |
| Semarang - Schneider 1930 |
| Semarang - Schuit 1932 |
| Semarang - Sillevis Smitt 1929 |
| Semarang - Smilde 1927 |
| Semarang - Smit 1922 |
| Semarang - Soeters 1926 |
| Semarang - Soffner 1929 |
| Semarang - Soutendam 1923 |
| Semarang - Steffin 1941 |
| Semarang - Tan 1927 |
| Semarang - Tan 1929 |
| Semarang - Telussa 1925 |
| Semarang - Tholen 1928 |
| Semarang - Tjeenk Willink 1924 |
| Semarang - van Barthold 1926 |
| Semarang - van Berkum 1918 |
| Semarang - van Bottenburg 1929 |
| Semarang - van de Graaf 1925 |
| Semarang - van der Fange 1927 |
| Semarang - van der Knoop 1917 |
| Semarang - van der Minne 1923 |
| Semarang - van der Waaij 1931 |
| Semarang - van der Werf 1937 |
| Semarang - van Dijk 1923 |
| Semarang - van Eldijk 1950 |
| Semarang - van Enk 1924 |
| Semarang - van Enk 1925 |
| Semarang - van Garderen 1934 |
| Semarang - van Gemund 1932 |
| Semarang - van Lookeren Campagne 1929 |
| Semarang - van Lookeren Campagne 1931 |
| Semarang - van Marken 1926 |
| Semarang - van Marken 1929 |
| Semarang - van Pernis 1922 |
| Semarang - van Pernis 1929 |
| Semarang - van Putt 1923 |
| Semarang - van Reijen 1938 |
| Semarang - van Rooyen 1951 |
| Semarang - van Rossum 1933 |
| Semarang - van Vliet 1931 |
| Semarang - van Wachem 1929 |
| Semarang - Vergroesen 1930 |
| Semarang - von Meyenfeldt 1917 |
| Semarang - Vosmaer 19.. |
| Semarang - Vunderink 1938 |
| Semarang - Warlich 1931 |
| Semarang - Went 1931 |
| Semarang - Wesly 1935 |
| Semarang - Westbroek 1943 |
| Semarang - Westphal 1938 |
| Semarang - Westra 1921 |
| Semarang - Westra 1932 |
| Semarang - Woerdeman 1952 |
| Semarang - Worst 1940 |
| Semarang - Zecha 1929 |
| Semarang - Zeelig 1950 |
| Semarang - zur Muhlen 1933 |
Update August 2, 2016: Added some 15 names to the above list.
Update September 5, 2017: Added 70 more names and part of a death notice because a reader recognized the name.
In case you are interested in a particular death notice, please post a comment below or send me an email: patmiebies at gmail dot com.
Hello, I'm a resident if Semarang and your post caught my attention, mainly because there is Sillevis Smit on your name list, which is the name of our first Pastor in Geereformeerde Kerk te Semarang (Gereja Ngaglik). Our church also have a lot of Dutch guest from Netherlands that seeks for their parents or grandparents Marriage Records or Baptist Records. Semarang actually consist a larger Dutch parts oter than Oudeburg area, and the Dutch Settlement were mainly concentrated in Nieuw-Tjandi and Gergaji area where our Church is located. Please do support the government's work of restorating the beautiful old semarang by visiting and spread the news that more buildings could be spared, because most of the oudeburg original structure were either replaed with modern structure or destroyed, which is unfortunate because old semarang is a copy of Amsterdam.
ReplyDeleteHi Christian, I mailed you my reaction on May 9. Peter
ReplyDeleteHi peter, one of the name existed on the list is van barthold. I know one of their descendant. Today she just visiting her grand mother's grave in semarang. She is currently lives in jakarta
ReplyDelete@Boss Baby Thank you for your message and please convey my regards to the Van Barthold descendant. I will add part of the relevant death notice above. Maybe they have known each other.
DeleteHi There
ReplyDeleteMy name is Bruce van Barthold. My father lived in Semarang from 1933 to 1936 with his parents. My grandmother Henriette van Barthold was the last van Barthold of our branch of the family and my father took the name in the 1950s. My grandfather was Ronald BL Taylor. My grandmother was the sixth generation of van Barthold to be born in Java stretching back to Louis (I think) van Barthold who travelled out in the early 1820s
Hi Bruce,
DeleteThanks for your reaction. I assume that the death notice of Ida van Barthold shown above also refers to family of yours. Are you still living in Indonesia?
Peter
swart born 1942 semarang
ReplyDeleteObviously many people are born in Semarang but people appear in this list only if I have a copy of their death notice.
Delete