Penelehhistory.com: Surabaya (24/5/24) – Had been stopping since 2021, now the sale of the De Berlage Building (Gedung Singa) asset belonging to PT. Jiwasraya on Jalan Jembatan Merah Surabaya is offeres agaian. The notification is via an online flyer.
Receiving the flyer, the news immediately reached the couple Max Meijer and Petra Timmer in the Netherlands. Petra is indeed enthusiastic about Berlage’s works. Max and Petra came to Surabaya in 2022 to see this monumental building, which at that time was reportedly being auctioned. Its presence in Surabaya also traces the footsteps of HP Berlage, which came to Surabaya in 1923.
What is unique is that Berlage designed the building at the beginning of the 20th century and it was erected in 1901. Meanwhile, his presence in Surabaya itself was in 1923 during a series of trips to the Dutch East Indies. When the Gedung Singa was built in 1901, he was not yet in Surabaya and the building was already a modern building. That’s why Berlage is called the father of modern architecture.
At that time (2022) Petra and Max came with a draft of a new generation book from Berlage’s work. Mijn Indies Reis. The contents are about Petra and her team’s views on the places in Indonesia that Berlage visited 100 years ago. Therefore, the book was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Berlage’s arrival in the Dutch East Indies.
Practically, Max and Petra’s presence in Surabaya (2022) was to discuss the Singa Building and Berlage’s footprint in Surabaya to enrich the contents of the book from a Surabaya perspective. Because of this, Begandring Soerabaia (Nanang Purwono) became part of the writing of the book which was also co-written by selected European authors.
Moreover, at that time, news had already been heard about the Singa Building auction. However, as time went by, sales of the Building faded and it was not sold.
As the issue of the sale of the Building faded, Begandring Soerabaia offered attention to the Peneleh European Cemetery. With various time-consuming efforts to convince the Dutch government, to the point of having to explain directly to officials at the Dutch Culture office in the Netherlands, the Peneleh project finally got the green light.
During this application process, TiMe Amsterdam partners must continue to routinely create and prepare administrative matters and meet Dutch Culture officials to convince them of the importance of taking care of the European Peneleh cemetery in Surabaya.
After Begandring’s meeting with related parties in the Netherlands, the Peneleh as a Living Library project can finally run in 2024. One of the officials is Remco Vermeulen.
When the Peneleh as a Living Library project is running and Max and Petra’s activities had to be in Surabaya, the issue of selling the Gedung Singa emerged again. News of this sale emerged after receiving an online flyer from the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Surabaya City.
So in between activities at Peneleh, Max and Petra paid attention to the Gedung Singa again. TiMe Amsterdam’s partner at the University of Indonesia, Prof. Kemas Ridwan Kurniawan, who specializes in Architectural History, also formed a team to draw the exterior and interior of the Building for scientific, educational and research purposes.
The Gedung Singa Connects the Old City and the European Cemetery of Peneleh.
There is Hemert’s name on the Gedung Singa. Jan von Hemert. He was a member of the family that owned the De Algemeene building and company, which operated in the insurance sector. Jan von Hemert laid the first stone for the building’s construction in 1901. The name is engraved on a stone inscription attached to the lower front of the building’s exterior.
Meanwhile, in the Peneleh European Cemetery, there are also graves of members of the Hemert family. Because of this connection, the Gedung Singa in the Old City and the Hemert family grave in Peneleh can become a tie in a historical tourism narrative of the Old City and Peneleh.
Petra conveyed this intention when she was received by the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of the City of Surabaya, Ikhsan, in an audience to convey the Peneleh as Living Library project at the end of February 2024.
Moreover, now the Surabaya City Government is revitalizing the European Town area in the Red Bridge (Jembatan Merah) area. The link between the two is the Kalimas river which can be used as a means of transportation. Efforts to revive Kalimas as a means of transportation are part of bringing Surabaya’s history to life. (nng)