Description of the attraction
The building of the Vredeburg fort is located in the city of Yogyakarta, next to the palace of the sultans. The former colonial fortress is now a museum.
The building of the fort was built in 1760, after a new Sultan's palace was erected, in order to protect the residence of the Sultan and his family. The construction of the fort was carried out by the Dutch Governor General Nikolaas Harting. The defensive structure was built on a piece of land that was allocated by Sultan Khamengkubuvono I, who was the founder of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and is considered a national hero of Indonesia.
Initially, the fort was a simple wooden building and consisted of only 4 bastions. Later, in 1767, the fort was expanded and fortified. The reconstruction of the fort was carried out by the Dutch architect Frans Haack. The reconstruction of the building was completed in 1787 and the fort became known as Fort Rustenburg. Translated from the Dutch language, the name sounds like "rest fort".
In 1867, an earthquake struck that destroyed the fort. The fortress was rebuilt and renamed, the defensive structure began to be called the Vredeburg fort, which translated from the Dutch language meant "fort of the world." In 1942, when Indonesia was occupied by Japan, the headquarters of the Japanese army was located on the territory of the fort, in addition, there was a military prison. After the liberation of Indonesia in 1945, the fort served as a military command post for the Indonesian army, and also served as a prison for those who were members of the communist party, whose activities were banned by the Indonesian government.
In 1947, Suvardi Suryanigrat, an Indonesian politician and fighter for the independence of Indonesia, expressed the idea of turning the fortress into a cultural institution. The agreement on the creation of the museum was reached only in the 80s of the twentieth century, in 1982 the building was reconstructed, in 1987 the museum was opened for public visits, but it became known as the Vredeburg Fort Museum only in 1992. The museum has a collection of old photographs, and dioramas will tell museum guests about how Indonesia became an independent state.
In 2006, an earthquake destroyed the museum, but was later rebuilt.
