House of Sampoerna, Tobacco museum in Surabaya, Indonesia
The House of Sampoerna is a tobacco museum in Surabaya, housed in a Dutch colonial building dating from the 19th century. The complex consists of a main building, two side structures, and several lower wings that together reflect the layout of a working cigarette factory.
The building was erected in 1862 as an orphanage and bought by Liem Seeng Tee in 1932, who turned it into a cigarette production site. The family business that started there grew into one of the best-known tobacco companies in Indonesia.
In the workshops, you can watch women hand-rolling kretek cigarettes using the same technique passed down through generations. The family portraits and personal objects on display show how closely the Sampoerna name became tied to daily life in Surabaya.
The workshops are open during the day, and a morning visit tends to give the best view of the hand-rolling activity in progress. The main building and the workshops are easy to reach on foot, and you can move freely between the different parts of the complex.
A 1972 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that once belonged to the founding family is on display inside the museum. It sits in direct contrast to the simple hand tools used a few steps away in the cigarette workshops.
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