Typical Dutch House in Indonesia, 1900-1910

Photo: E. Becker/National Gallery of Australia

The two photos above show a Dutch house in Indonesia around 1900-1910. These photos are interesting because they show not only the building of the house, but also the inhabitants, namely the Dutch and their native maids. We can also see the vehicle owned by the owner of the house.

From the two photos above, it can be seen that the house has many helpers, each of whom has a different task. Some take care of children, do housework, clean the yard, and drive vehicles. This was a common phenomenon at the time, the Dutch house had many native maids.

Since the era of steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal, the flow of goods and people has increased between the Netherlands and Indonesia. The invention of the telegraph and telephone made the distance between the Netherlands and its colonies even shorter. As a result, more and more Dutch companies invested in the Dutch East Indies. As the Dutch came to work in the Dutch East Indies, the number of Dutch people living in the Dutch East Indies increased dramatically.

As a result, cities such as Batavia, Bandung, Semarang and others were built in the Dutch style to meet the needs of the growing number of Dutch people living there. And the owner of the house in the photo above may be one of the waves of Dutch people who settled in the Dutch East Indies due to the advancement of transportation and telecommunications technology.