Weltevreden was the upper city (bovenstad) and administrative capital of the Dutch East Indies, located to the south of the old city of Batavia. By 1926, it was the seat of the Governor-General, the Council of the Dutch East Indies, the People’s Council (Volksraad), and numerous government departments and cultural institutions. The Atjeh Monument stood in the Wilhelminapark at Weltevreden.
Account from Nederlandsch Indië Platen Atlas (1926) — Weltevreden
The atlas depicts and references Weltevreden extensively throughout its pages. Key Aceh-related locations in Weltevreden include:
- The Wilhelminapark: Location of the Atjeh Monument, erected in memory of the Pacification of Atjeh.
- The Waterlooplein: Location of the Michiels Monument.
- The palace of the Governor-General: On Rijswijk and at Buitenzorg.
- Koningsplein: Site of the Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap and the Protestant church.
- Departement van Onderwijs en Eeredienst: The Department of Education and Religious Affairs, housed at Weltevreden.
- Headquarters of the K.P.M. (Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij).
- The General Post Office.
- Volkslectuur: The publisher of the atlas itself was based at Weltevreden.
Significance
Weltevreden’s significance for Achehnese history lies in its role as the imperial capital from which the Aceh War was directed and in which its memory was monumentalised. The Atjeh Monument in the Wilhelminapark, named after the Queen, symbolically located the subjugation of Acheh within the broader narrative of Dutch colonial achievement.
See Also
Sources
Nederlandsch Indië Platen Atlas met korte beschrijvingen, uitgegeven door Volkslectuur, Weltevreden, Java. Weltevreden: G. Kolff & Co., January 1926. Throughout, especially Plates 62, 70, 98, 196, 310, 358.