Overview

The Lawang Sewu, a Javanese term which translates to Thousand Doors in English, in Indonesia used to be a massive and glorious building that showed the influence and the power of the Dutch invaders. However, after a certain time, the building was transformed into a place where several people were executed and to this day, the air of pain and anguish still lies within the numerous doors that line the historical and haunted building.

Construction of the Buildings

The Lawang Sewu, or Thousand doors, doesn’t really have ten hundred doors. Instead, it got its name from the numerous door-like windows that line the halls of the building, giving it a unique and eerie atmosphere.

The construction of the establishment started in 1904, the time of the Dutch colonization of Indonesia. It was originally built to serve as a headquarters of the Dutch Indies Rail Company, housing offices that managed the operation of the massive transportation company.

Lawang Sewu had four buildings; all of which were finished only after 15 years, in 1919. The buildings were huge, and quite grandiose for a railway company. The buildings were constructed with underground tunnels that connected to the main locations in Semarang; including the Governor’s House and the wharf. The massive buildings still remain today:

Building A

The main building, which was finished in 1907 was named Building A.

Building A somehow resembles a church because of its facade. It has a main building with obvious Gothic influences and an enormous door which opens into the main lobby with a grand staircase.

The interior design of Building A showcases beautiful glass-stained windows which illuminate the building with dozens of colours.

It has two identical tall towers, originally used to store about 8 thousand litres of water.

Building B

Just behind Building A stands another building named Building B. It has three storeys, with the first and the second floor containing offices and the highest floor having a function hall probably used for holding parties of the company.

Building B has a basement that can be filled with water; an early architectural style that provides an air conditioning system to the building.

Building C and D

The two smaller buildings, C and D, are located along Pemuda Street. These two other buildings were used as extension buildings to hold additional offices for the Dutch Indies Rail Company.

Demonstration of the Power of the Dutch

The Lawang Sewu is somehow a glamorous headquarters for a railway company. The glass stained windows depict the obviously advanced technology of the Dutch during that time. However, delving into history, it is believed that the headquarters was the Dutch’s way of showing their power throughout their colony. It is through the massive transportation medium that they established their supremacy all over the region. Lawang Sewu somehow turned into a shrine that praises the European Supremacy.

Tortured by the Japanese

During the Second World War, the Japanese tried to conquer the whole of Southeast Asia and Indonesia wasn’t skipped on the list. In Semarang, the Japanese army took over Lawang Sewu and captured prisoners, Indonesian and Dutch alike.

The glamorous headquarters of the Dutch was turned into a detention centre of the prisoners of war. The walls and the halls of the Lawang Sewu are said to be the witness of numerous tortures and executions that the Japanese performed.

Building B’s basement, originally used for the good intention of air conditioning, was turned into a large detention and torture chamber. The Japanese would lead prisoners to the small compartments in the basement, just enough to accommodate one crouching person and cram into it six live prisoners in the most impossible positions.

When it rained, the vats would fill with water, and the people were left to drown. In some cases, the other occupants of the vats would still be alive and they would endure being next to the cold and bloated corpses of their comrades.

In the next room was the execution room where, according to the tour guides, the Japanese beheaded the prisoners, and the heads would roll across the floor. The cubicles next to the execution room look like they were just big enough to accommodate 4 standing people. However, 12 prisoners were packed into the minute standing prison, left in the darkness to die in starvation or to drown.

Confirmed Deaths in Lawang Sewu

In 1945, the Dutch and Indonesian nationalists decided to fight back against the Japanese and launched an attack in Semarang. The party used the secret passages to Lawang Sewu and other sites in the city. The skirmish lasted for days and ended with the bitter death of six railway workers who fought for their country. A monument is erected in Lawang Sewu in honour of the lives of the heroes that fought in the battle.

Ghost Encounters and Sightings

Headless Dutch Woman

During the Japanese invasion, legend has it that they not only killed the prisoners but they also sexually abused the Dutch and Indonesian women; either working in Lawang Sewu or just lurking outside their fortress.

Legend has it that the fetishes of the Japanese soldiers came to a point where they gathered twenty women, ten of them were virgins and ten were married and had children. All the women were raped and then beheaded.

There were a lot of reported sightings of a headless white woman that roams around the Thousand Doors.

Lady in White

In an Indonesian reality show, Dunia Lain, a man was left by himself in the basement of Building B in a pitch black environment and only one infrared camera. He was not a believer of the paranormal but he admitted that he was terrified when the staff left him alone.

A few minutes after, an ear-splitting bang was heard in the basement. The man was visibly scared but he did not budge and continued to stay where he was. He was actually sitting a few meters away from a dark doorway which led to the main hall of the basement. Then, according to the participant, he heard faint laughter coming from what seemed like small monkeys.

The next scene was clearly seen on tape. A white apparition materialized in the dark doorway of the basement door and the man was already panicking. The apparition started to take the form of a white cloth and then it turned into a woman with long black hair. The man, whose eyes were transfixed on the doorway, tried to call for the help of the staff who quickly came running to his aid. The lady in white suddenly disappeared when the lights were turned on.

National Geographic also featured Lawang Sewu as one of the scariest places on Earth. They interviewed a guard who worked in the place for a long time. According to him, even after years of working in the Thousand Doors he had not experienced any paranormal activity, until one particular night.

The guard was patrolling the building just after a number of visitors had passed through. When he ascended the flight of stairs, he noticed a woman in white also climbing the stairs behind him. Thinking that the woman was a guest who had lost her way, he called out to her. The woman did not respond and continued to climb. When she reached the same level as that of the guard, she lifted her head and the man saw her face. Blood was soaking her horror-stricken face and she was getting nearer and nearer to the security guard. He was so scared that he didn’t move from where he was and actually looked at the floor only to realize that the woman’s legs were not touching the floor; she was actually floating.

According to him, he was so afraid that he did not move from his position for a number of minutes even after the apparition had disappeared.

Kutintalak

Because of the Lawang Sewu’s haunted reputation, a movie was made featuring the reported ghosts in the building.

The story centers on a number of teenagers who were partying in the vicinity of Lawang Sewu. In their drunken stupor, they ended up in Building B, and some of them urinated in the building. The ghosts living in the place were angered because of the disrespect they had shown.

The Kutintalak, the vampiric ghost of a woman who died while she was pregnant, decided to haunt the teenagers. In the end, it was found out that the Kutintalak was one of the boys’ ex-girlfriend whom he got pregnant. She killed herself by jumping into a well in Lawang Sewu, because of the rejection of the boy and his family.

A kuntintalak was indeed reported to be seen roaming the halls and doors of Lawang Sewu by staff and visitors alike.

Prisoners of War

A number of common ghostly activity were reported by different visitors and staff of the current Lawang Sewu.

There have been sightings of a man, probably an Indonesian prisoner, dragging a ball and a chain wrapped around his leg.

Strange sounds of screams and cries are also heard in and around Lawang Sewu.