On April 24, 1778, a group of Dutch intellectuals established
a scientific institution under the name Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en
Wetenschappen, (Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences).[2] This private
body had the aim of promoting research in the field of arts and sciences,
especially in history, archaeology, ethnography and physics, and publish the
various findings.
One of the founders – JCM Radermacher – donated a building and
a collection of cultural objects and books, which were of great value to start
off a museum and library for the society.[3] Due to the growing collections,
General Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles built a new premises on Jalan Majapahit No.
3 at the beginning of the 19th century and named it the Literary Society. In
the 1862 the Dutch East Indies government decided to build a new museum that
would not only serve as an office but also could be used to house, preserve and
display the collections.
The Museum was officially opened in 1868 and popularly known
as Gedung Gajah (Elephant Building) or sometimes called Gedung Arca (The house
of Statues). It was called Gedung Gajah on account of the bronze elephant
statue in the front yard – a gift to Batavia from King Chulalongkorn of Siam in
1871. It was also called Gedung Arca because a great variety of statues from
different periods are on display in the house.
In 1931, the museum's collections were shown in a world
cultural exhibition in Paris. Unfortunately, a fire in the exhibition hall
demolished the Dutch East Indies' exhibition pavilion and destroyed most of the
objects. The museum received some insurance money as compensation and the
following year these funds were used to build the old ceramics room, the bronze
room, and both treasure rooms on the second floor.
On February 29, 1950 the institution became the Lembaga
Kebudayaan Indonesia (Indonesian Culture Council). On September 17, 1962 it was
handed over to the Indonesian government and became known as Museum Pusat
(Central Museum). By decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No.
092/0/1979 May 28, 1979 it was renamed the Museum Nasional.
In 2007, a new building to the north side of existing building
was opened, featuring many artifacts from prehistoric times to modern times.
This new building, called Gedung Arca (Statue Building), provides a new
exhibition wing. The old building is named as Gedung Gajah (Elephant Building).
In September 11, 2013, four precious golden artifacts from the
10th-century Eastern Medang kingdom period was stolen from the museum. The
items were first discovered in the ruins of the Jalatunda ancient royal bathing
place and in the temples on the slopes of Mount Penanggungan in Mojokerto
Regency, East Java. The four missing artifacts were a dragon-shaped gold
plaque, a scripted crescent-shaped gold plaque and one golden-silver Harihara
plaque, as well as a small golden box. All the missing items were displayed
together in a glass showcase located inside the archaeology gold artifact and
treasure room on the second floor of the Gedung Gajah (old wing) building.
Sumber : Wikipedia
