Dutch Grave Painting in Batavia, 1860

Image: Charles Theodore Deeleman/Atlas van Stolk

The picture above is a painting of the Dutch graveyard in Kerkhof Laan (Tanah Abang area), Batavia. This painting was made by Charles Theodore Deeleman, an engineer who was also a painter around 1860. Seen in the painting a man sitting on a park bench in the cemetery complex.

Like other cities in its time, Batavia in the 18th century was an unhealthy city. Lack of sanitation and access to clean water leads to high population mortality rates. To cope with the increasing demand for graveyard, a new tomb complex was built outside the area now known as Kota Tua, which used to be the center of Batavia. A new graveyard was opened in the area now known as Tanah Abang.

Because the distance was quite far, usually the bodies were transported from the city center via the Molenvliet river and then transported by horse-drawn carriage to the burial area.

In this graveyard many prominent figures were buried from various backgrounds, among which the most famous was the commander of the Dutch army who died in the Aceh War, Major General JLH Pel. Kohler. Kohler was a Dutch military leader who was shot dead by Aceh fighters in the area of ​​the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Banda Aceh. Kohler's body was then taken to Batavia and buried in Kerkhof Laan.

When this graveyard was closed and dismantled in 1975, the Dutch government asked the Aceh government to move Kohler's body to Aceh. In front of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, a memorial was built right where Kohler was shot and killed.

The graveyard and Deeleman's painting above were one of the relics of the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia. Apart from leaving behind many paintings, Deeleman was also the one who designed the horse-linked vehicle, which was later called the delman (wagon), after the engineer who designed it, Deeleman.