Colombo Dutch Museum

by Husna Inayathullah

The Colombo Dutch Museum is a two-storeyed building. It is situated at Prince Street, Pettah in Colombo. This museum covers the history of the Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka.

The building was constructed during the Dutch occupation of Colombo from 1656 to 1796. It was the former residence of the Dutch Governor Thomas van Rhee.

The building was a teacher training college and an institute to instruct clergymen between 1696 and 1796. It was the residence of Colonel Count August Carl Fredrick Von Ranzow from 1759 to 1844.

It also served as an orphanage under the supervision of the deacons, financed by the Dutch East Indies Company. It was also used as a hospital. It became the barracks during the second half of the 1800s and in 1900 it was converted to a police training school, set up by the British.

In 1932 it was made the Pettah Post Office. In 1971, following heavy monsoon rains, one of the exterior walls collapsed and the building had to be abandoned.

In 1973, a committee was set up with representatives from the Ceylon Tourist Board, Department of Archaeology, Netherlands Alumni Association of Lanka and the National Archives to restore the building and making it a museum covering the Dutch colonial period.

This followed the protests by the Royal Asiatic Society and the Dutch Burgher Union objecting to plans to demolish the building.

Restoration work on the museum commenced in 1977 and completed in 1981.

It was opened to the public in 1982.

This building embodies the unique architectural features of a colonial Dutch town house.

The museum displays the Dutch legacy with the artefacts including furniture, ceramics, coins and weaponry and portrays various facets of contemporary life and culture.