National Archive Building
Now let continue our journey to Harmoni. On 111 Gajah Mada St., you will find an ancient building that is still very well maintained. It was built by Reiner de Klerk in 1760, a member of the Dutch East Indies council who was later appointed Governor General of the VOC. In 1900 there was plan to demolish this house and replace it with shops. Fortunately, the plan did not materialize due to interference from an association named Bataviaasch Genootschaap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Batavian Association for Arts and Sciences), established by Klerk.
After years of being used as a residence and resting place, in 1925 the house changed its function into the office of the Mining Department of the Dutch East Indies Government and then as lands archief (a place to store archives). Since 1992, all archives here have been moved to a new building on Ampera St., South Jakarta.
Now the old building is independently managed by a private foundation. Because the size of each room is very spacious, as well as the front and back yards, this artistic building is often used for art exhibitions, pre-wedding photos and even wedding receptions.
Bank Mandiri Museum
Walk further towards Glodok, right in front of Kota Station, there is a building that used to be the regional office of the Nederlanche Handel-Maatschaappij (NHM), a trading company of the Dutch East Indies. It was built in 1929 and inaugurated by the 10th President of NHM C.J Karel van Aalst.
In 1960, NHM was nationalized and become the Farmers and Fishermen Cooperative Bank, which later changed its name to Bank BNI 46 Unit II. From 1968 to 1995 it was used as the head office of the Indonesian Export-Import Bank (Bank Exim) and was last used as the office of Bank Mandiri.