History of the vreburg castle museum

Saturday 23 july 2022

Fort Vredeburg is a colonial fort which is a silent witness to historical events in Yogyakarta. The fort, which is located near Gedung Agung and the Yogyakarta Palace, was built in the 18th century, more precisely in 1760.

Fort Vredeburg was built by Sultan Hamengku Buwono I at the request of the Dutch.

The Dutch argued that the construction of this fort was intended to maintain the security of the palace. But in fact, the existence of this fort was to facilitate the supervision of the Dutch on all activities of the Yogyakarta Palace.

Since 1992, the fort has been converted into a Special Museum for the National Struggle under the name Vredeburg Fort Museum.

History of Fort Vredeburg

The history of the construction of Fort Vredeburg is closely related to the birth of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1755. After the construction of the palace along with markets, mosques, squares, and other complementary buildings, the Sultanate of Yogyakarta experienced rapid progress.

This progress brought concern to the Dutch, who then asked the sultan to be allowed to build a fort that could protect the palace. The construction of the fort was first carried out in 1760, with a very simple building form.

At that time, the walls of the fort were only made of soil and reinforced with support poles made of coconut and sugar palm trees. In 1765, W.H. van Ossenberg suggested that the building be strengthened to ensure its safety.

The Sultan also accepted Ossenberg's proposal, and starting in 1767 the construction was carried out by a Dutch architect named Ir. Frank Haak. Ir. Frans Haak took almost 20 years to complete his task. After completion, the fort was given the name Rustenburg which means resting castle.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Fort Rustenburg was badly damaged by earthquake shocks. After being renovated by the Dutch, the name was changed to Fort Vredeburg, which means fortress of peace.

Fort Vredeburg is surrounded by a moat and the four corners are given bastions as scouts or guard rooms.

While inside there are several important buildings, such as officers, houses, resident houses, soldiers' dormitories, weapons warehouses, logistics warehouses, and hospitals.

Since its establishment until now, Fort Vredeburg has undergone several changes in ownership status and function. Between 1760-1942, the building was used as a defense fort and the Dutch military headquarters.

Turned into a museum

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On August 9, 1980, the government through the Minister of Education and Culture and with the approval of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, established Fort Vredeburg as a center for information and cultural development of the archipelago.

Then on April 16, 1985, the fort was restored to be used as a museum. After the restoration was completed in 1987, the museum began to open to the public.

Furthermore, in 1992 the museum building was officially designated as a Special Museum for the National Struggle under the name Benteng Vredeburg Yogyakarta Museum.

Uniquely, the Fort Vredeburg Museum has excellent collections in the form of a minirama of the Boedi Oetomo Congress, a diorama of Sudirman's inauguration as Commander in Chief of the TNI, a Surjopranoto typewriter, a kendil used by Sudirman, a Soetomo document, and a military academy bench.

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