De Oude Stadhuis, or "Old Town Hall," was founded in 1905 after the formation of the Gemeente Batavia. Initially, this building served as the administrative center of Batavia. During the VOC and Dutch East Indies times, this building was used as a place of government, courts, civil registration, and worship on holidays. In 1913, the Jakarta municipal office was moved to Tanah Abang, and De Oude Stadhuis was no longer the municipality's administrative center. After these changes, this building was used as the West Java resident's office until 1942, when Japanese troops took over this building as a logistics center. After Indonesian independence, this building was again used as the West Java provincial government office and the Military Command Headquarters 1 City until 1961. In 1970, Governor Ali Sadikin designated this building as a cultural heritage, and on March 30, 1974, this building was inaugurated as a Museum History of Jakarta.
