Visiting the Vredeburg Fort Museum, The Vice President: A Museum for Character Education for the Young Generation

Yogyakarta, wapresri.go.id – Starting their activities on the second day of a working visit to the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Vice President K.H. Ma’ruf Amin and Mrs. Hj. Wury Ma’ruf Amin took the time to visit the Vredeburg Fort Museum opposite the Yogyakarta Presidential Palace, Tuesday morning (25/10/2022).

While exercising for a fun walk, the Vice President and Mrs. Wury were accompanied by the Head of the Yogyakarta Vredeburg Fort Museum, Suharja, touring the fort area of approximately 46,574 square meters.

Not only traveling outside the fort, the Vice President and Mrs. Wury also entered the two Diorama Rooms, which presented stories about the history of the nation’s struggle for independence in the Yogyakarta area.

Enthusiastically, the Vice President and Mrs. Wury listened to Suharja’s explanation about the building and various cultural heritages and dioramas, which seemed to be managed very well.

According to Suharja, the Vice President appreciated museums’ presence as a means of education for the younger generation.

“Alhamdulillah, he cared about the role of the museum because he was pleased to visit Fort Vredeburg Yogyakarta and appreciates the museum as a character education (means) for the younger generation,” he said.

Because, continued Suharja, the exhibition arrangement displayed at the Vredeburg Fort Museum, according to the Vice President, really describes the Indonesian people’s struggle in Yogyakarta since Sultan Hamengku Buwono I until now. This struggle is one of the reasons why Yogyakarta received the title of the City of Struggle.

“Of course, we are delighted, very proud of the appreciation from the Vice President,” he said.

Furthermore, Suharja said that the Fort Vredeburg Museum, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Higher Education, 2019 was named the best museum management in Indonesia.

“Then the community or ecosystem of cultural progress (here) is alive because there is recognition from the government, there is recognition from stakeholders,” he added.

In the future, Suharja hopes that the public will continue to use the Fort Vredeburg Museum as an inclusive space to promote and develop Indonesian culture.

“Because we are Indonesians, the younger generation must remain rooted in the identity and character of the founders of Indonesian culture,” he concluded.

For information, reported from the official website of the Yogyakarta City Culture Service, Fort Vredeburg is one of the buildings that has been a witness to historical events that have occurred in Yogyakarta since the Dutch colonial government entered Yogyakarta.

The establishment of the Vredeburg fort in Yogyakarta cannot be separated from the birth of the Yogyakarta Sultanate. The first Yogyakarta Sultanate Palace was built on October 9, 1755. Then Fort Vredeburg was constructed from 1760 to 1787 by the Dutch colonial government on the pretext that the Dutch could maintain the security of the palace and its surroundings.

However, behind this pretext, it turns out that the Netherlands aims to make it easier to control all developments in the palace.

Over time, Fort Vredeburg continued to record important events in Yogyakarta. One of them was during the British colonial period 1811-1816. The British government governed this fort under the control of John Crawfurd on the orders of Governor General Thomas Stamford Raffles. During this period of British power, a momentous event occurred at Fort Vredeburg, namely the attack by British soldiers and indigenous forces on the Yogyakarta Palace on June 18 to 20, 1812, known as the Geger Sepoy incident.

Another historical record was on March 5, 1942, when the Japanese invaded Yogyakarta. The Japanese army took over this fort. Several buildings in Fort Vredeburg were used as a place for prisoners of the Dutch and Indonesians who fought against the Japanese. Fort Vredeburg was also used as the headquarters of the Kempetei and storehouse of weapons and ammunition for the Japanese army. (SM/LHS-BPMI Setwapres)