Kota Lama Semarang through time

Semarang 1863–2025 13 photos of this spot

13 photographs taken at the same spot in Semarang, spanning 1863–2025 — 9 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

A traditional Chinese merchant house in Semarang is pictured in this 1863 photograph, reflecting the sizeable Chinese community that had settled in the Dutch East Indies port over the preceding centuries. Semarang, on Java's north coast, was a major trading hub within the Dutch colonial economy.

EU: Voorzijde Chinees huis in Semarang (1863) 1863 A traditional Chinese merchant house in Semarang is pictured in this 1863 photograph, reflecting the sizeable Chinese community that had settled in the Dutch East Indies port over the preceding centuries. Semarang, on Java's north coast, was a major trading hub within the Dutch colonial economy.

EU: Chinees huis in Semarang (1863) 1863 Another view of the same Chinese-style house in Semarang, photographed in 1863, showing the courtyard architecture favored by the city's Chinese merchant families under Dutch colonial administration in Java.

EU: Achterzijde Chinees huis in Semarang (1863) 1863 The rear elevation of a Chinese house in Semarang, a major port city on Java's north coast, photographed in 1863 during the Dutch colonial era. Semarang's Chinese quarter grew alongside its trading harbor.

EU: Oostgevel van Chinees huis in Semarang (1863) 1863 The eastern facade of a Chinese house in Semarang, Dutch East Indies, photographed in 1863. Architecture of this kind reflected the long-established Chinese merchant community of the port city.

EU: Werkzaamheeden op het Stationsterrein te Semarang (1865) 1865 Construction activity on the railway station grounds at Semarang, photographed in 1865. Semarang became the starting point of the Dutch East Indies' first railway line, which opened in 1867 to connect the port with the interior of Java.

EU: Heerenstraat in Semarang met winkels, wachtend rijtuig en voorbijgangers (1870) 1870 Heerenstraat, one of Semarang's principal streets, appears here in 1870 lined with shopfronts, a horse-drawn carriage waiting at the curb, and pedestrians going about their day. Semarang was a major trading port on Java's north coast under Dutch colonial administration.

EU: Schepen in het kanaal en op de rede van Semarang (1870) 1870 Vessels lie at anchor in the canal and on the roadstead off Semarang in this 1870 photograph. Lacking a deep-water harbor, ships of the era often had to anchor offshore, reflecting the city's role as a busy trading port on Java's north coast during the Dutch East Indies era.

EU: Grasveld (aloon-aloon) in Semarang met een treinstel van de SJS en op de achtergrond een moskee (1870) 1870 The aloon-aloon, or town square, of Semarang is pictured in 1870 with a train of the Samarang-Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij crossing the open grass and a mosque visible in the background. Such squares were a common feature at the center of towns across colonial-era Java.

EU: Gezicht op een kade en het Grote Huis (Rumah Besar/Gedung Bepak) in Semarang (1870) 1870 A quay along Semarang's waterfront leads toward the Grote Huis, known locally as Rumah Besar or Gedung Bepak, a prominent colonial-era building captured in this 1870 photograph of the Dutch trading port on Java's north coast.

Kota Lama Semarang 2020 Kota Lama, or Old Town, in Semarang, Indonesia, preserves a cluster of Dutch colonial-era buildings from the city's history as a trading port under the Dutch East Indies. Photographed in 2020.

Jalan Branjangan, Semarang 2025 Jalan Branjangan, a street in Semarang's Kota Lama, the old town district built up under Dutch colonial administration and still lined with period commercial buildings.

Jalan Letjen Suprapto, Semarang 2025 Jalan Letjen Suprapto in Semarang, a street named for an Indonesian general and running through the city's historic old town.

Jalan Meliwis, Semarang 2025 Jalan Meliwis, a street in Semarang, the northern Java port city whose old quarter preserves a mix of colonial-era architecture.