Mandiri Museum

The NHM building circa 1955.

The building stands on a 10,039 square meters land. This land was previously owned by the firm Carl Schlieper, who built a large office building and a warehouse. In 1913, the land was purchased by the Factorij.[2] At midnight of December 17, 1920, the Schlieper building caught fire.[3] The damaged building was destroyed later to make way for a new building which will become the Netherlands Trading Society (Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij or NHM), also known as "Factorij".[4]

The new building was designed by J.J.J de Bruyn, A.P. Smits and C. van de Linde. Construction started in 1929 and was opened on January 14, 1933 by C.J Karel Van Aalst, the 10th President of NHM. The architecture follows the philosophy of the Dutch Nieuwe Zakelijkheid, a branch of modern architecture close to Art Deco.[1][5][6]

The very profitable NHM was finally nationalized in November 1960, after shareholders and management tried to keep it under Dutch control in the 1950s.[7] In December 1960, it became the property of the Department of Export-Import of the Bank Koperasi Tani & Nelayan (BKTN). This became the Bank Export Import Indonesia (or Bank Exim) on December 31, 1968 until the legal merge of Bank Exim, Bank Dagang Negara, Bank Bumi Daya, and Bank Pembangunan Indonesia to become Bank Mandiri in 1999.[1]

The museum was established by Bank Mandiri on October 2, 1998.[1] Its collection consists of various items related to banking activity and its development in "Tempo Doeloe" (in Indonesia meaning: "Good old days"). Its collection range from colonial bank owned operating supplies, securities, old currencies, old Dutch safe deposit box, and many others. In addition the building's interior, old ornaments, and furniture is kept as it was during the colonial era.

Transfer desk with old machines background.