Luxurious Neogothic Architecture at St. Joseph's Catholic church (Gedangan Church)

Hi everybody. How are you? I hope you're okay. Recently I visited Semarang City, a famous city in Indonesia. Very famous. I had a nice business trip and decided to extend it with a vacation. One of the places I visited was St. Joseph's church. People here used to call this church by the name of the gedangan church.

The road to the church is not too crowded and very accessible. I also passed the very beautiful old town. This church is enough to steal my daily life. There is a pretty big and nice word "IHS" in front of this church. It is very unique, like any other church building, that I have come across. It was very beautiful.

I started to enter the building, but I didn't see the priests. I met a guard at the church. Very friendly, he also welcomed me. He said the church had entered a nature reserve in Indonesia. However, the maintenance of this church is left to the congregation and the pastor. The government does not provide funds for the maintenance of this building. I'm quite disappointed. I want to tell you about the origin of this church.

This church is the oldest church in Semarang. It is predictable if this building was built with the Dutch colonial pattern. At that time this church was built on the zeestraat-kloosterstraat street. According to available information, this church is the forerunner of the Catholic church in the city of Semarang. The letter "ihs" comes from the Latin for iesus heminum salvator. That means Jesus is the savior of mankind.

This church was built in 1870. Previously, there was a priest Lambertus Prinsen who was sent from the Netherlands to Indonesia, more precisely to the city of Semarang in 1808. This building was designed by a Dutch architect named W. I Van Bakel. In 1973 the tower in the hall had collapsed. This made the priests agree that the bricks in the church use bricks directly from the Netherlands.

This building (this church) has a neogothic design and interior. The first time I entered this church, it was really cool. Even though there is no air conditioning, from inside this room is very luxurious and feels very cool. Attendance at this church can reach 1,000 people. This church is much simpler medieval gothic. Gothic elements are found on the outside of this church, in the tower, at the ends of the doors and windows in the shape of an arc.

From the information I got, all the floor parts are shipped directly from Europe. Likewise with the statues that were brought directly from Germany. There are 4 statues imported directly from Germany. There are also organ pipes, commonly called church instruments. all those things are timeless. all these things are still the same. very beautiful. In addition, the church has two bells that ring every half hour before mass begins.

From the guardian's information, all the decorations in this church are still the same. Nothing is broken. I was pleasantly surprised by the treatment at this church. for almost 100 years in this church, they are all the same. In the center of this church there is a pointed arc window at the top and is in the altar room. These glass panels are framed with colored pewter, and it is the identity of the gothic style.

Another highlight is the bishop of this church who resisted Japanese occupation. During the Japanese occupation, a bishop named Soegijopranoto fought against the Japanese. It happened during the five-day battle in Semarang in October 1945. The bishop also cared for Indonesian fighters who were fighting against Japanese occupation. I got goosebumps hearing this story. I am very proud to be Indonesian.

There are three buildings in this church area. A building with Dutch architectural nuances for the offices and residences of the priests. By the way, in Indonesia Pastor is called Romo. However, if you are in Sulawesi or Papua, Romo's call will be different. this depends on the regional culture in Indonesia. The other two buildings are used for the congregation's agenda and the congregation's economy.

Nurdiani Latifah

_{My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I currently live in Jakarta – Indonesia, after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I had been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.}

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