Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto

Built for the extraction, processing and transport of high-quality coal in an inaccessible region of Sumatra, this industrial site was developed by the Netherlands East Indies’ government in the globally important period of industrialisation from the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. The workforce was recruited from the local Minangkabau people and supplemented by Javanese and Chinese contract workers, and convict labourers from Dutch-controlled areas. It comprises the mining site and company town, coal storage facilities at the port of Emmahaven and the railway network linking the mines to the coastal facilities. The Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage was built as an integrated system that enabled the efficient deep-bore extraction, processing, transport and shipment of coal. It is also an outstanding testimony of exchange and fusion between local knowledge and practices and European technology.

Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

Explore together

Attributes of the Property

Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto (OCMHS) is technological ensemble clustered in three geographically-distinct but functionally-integrated areas, in which there are twelve component parts with a total twenty-four attributes, consisting of building infrastructures, bridges, mining pits and tunnels

m

Sawahlunto Mining Site and Company Town

m

Railway Network and its Engineering Structures

m

Coal Storage Facilities at Emmahaven Port

Exotic Adventures

Popular Destinations

Tinggi Bridge

Present condition of Tinggi Bridge, The steel arch construction of Tinggi Bridge is also applied to the adjacent bridge

Kantor Utama PT BA UPO

Head Office of Ombilin Mining Enterprise or Kantor utama PT. BA-UPO, used to be referred to in Netherlands as Hoofdkantoor van de Steenkolenmijn Ombilin or Kantoor Ombilin Mijnen in short, was built in 1916.

Lubang Tambang Soegar

Soegar Mining Pit was also converted into a museum called Museum Mbah Soero Mining Pit.

Popular stories

Best Experiances

Explore the World Heritage

Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto

2019

Date of Inscription

1610

Ref

268.18 ha

Property

Watch the video

Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage Sawahlunto

The Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage was built as an integrated system that enabled the efficient deep-bore extraction, processing, transport and shipment of coal. It is also an outstanding testimony of exchange and fusion between local knowledge and practices and European technology.