Hidden Homes of Heroes

The uninhabitable structure is believed to be the former home of Eduard Douwes Dekker, or Multatuli, the author of Max Havelaar. The novel, released in 1860, sent shockwaves throughout Europe and influenced Dutch East Indies government thinking, which eventually gave rise to the Ethical Policy, a recompense to the people of the Nusantara archipelago.

The house, rickety and shabby, looks more like a warehouse than a home once belonging to a Dutch assistant overseer. "I'm here for the first time. I don't know what this building was," said Rahmat, a man from Kuningan, West Java, on Thursday last week. Used plastic bottles and food wrappers littered the place, while a plastic carpet and an old mattress lay in a careless heap in the front yard. Peeking through the dust-coated pane of glass, cartons of medicine came into view.