Art Original

Kisah Para Preanger Planters

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In the 18th and 19th centuries, the fertile, volcanic highlands surrounding modern-day Bandung were transformed into a hyper-lucrative agricultural hub. Under the Dutch colonial Cultuurstelsel (Cultivation System) and subsequent private enterprise acts, a unique class of aristocracy emerged: The Preanger Planters. These were bold, ambitious, and often eccentric Dutch entrepreneurs who cleared the dense, wild jungles of West Java to establish vast tea, coffee, cinchona (quinine), and rubber plantations.

Families like the Bosschas, the Kerkhofens, and the Holles became the absolute "Lords of the Tea Highlands." They didn't just build businesses; they created an entire sub-culture. Operating like feudal kings over thousands of hectares, they accumulated immense wealth. This massive influx of fortune directly funded the transformation of a sleepy mountain outpost into a glamorous, modern city. The planters wanted a place to spend their riches, leading to the birth of Bandung—complete with luxury Art Deco hotels (like the Grand Hotel Preanger and Hotel Savoy Homann), high-end fashion boutiques, and grand social clubs (Sociëteit Concordia), earning the city its legendary moniker: "Paris van Java" (The Paris of Java).

However, their grand lifestyles stood on a precarious foundation. The story of the Preanger Planters is deeply dualistic—juxtaposing the romantic, misty landscapes of the tea fields and their high-society soirées against the grueling, underpaid labor of the native Sundanese workers who actually cleared the mountains and picked the leaves. This legendary era eventually reached a sudden, dramatic end with the arrival of World War II, the Japanese occupation, and the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution, which nationalized the estates and closed the curtain on the planter aristocracy forever.

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Detail Information

Series Title

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Call Number

4.813.0427.B.U

Publisher

Jakarta : Kompas., 2014

Collation

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Language

Indonesia

ISBN/ISSN

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Classification

4.813.0427.B.U

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

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Subject(s)

Fiksi Indonesia

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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