Gereja Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, Protestant church building in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Gereja Huria Kristen Batak Protestan occupies a Dutch-era Reformed church in Kotabaru, Yogyakarta. The white building has a square tower with a flat overhanging roof and a small vent; a blue emblem above the letters "HKBP" marks the tower face. A flat canopy on square columns with dark stone bases shelters the raised entrance, and the lower walls are dark textured stone below white upper walls. A lower wing to the left has a dark tiled hipped roof.
The building was erected in 1923 as the Gereformeerd Kerk for Dutch residents of Kotabaru, a district laid out from 1917 under a decree of Sultan Hamengkubuwana VII. Inaugurated by Ds D. Baker on 21 May 1923, it was recognised by the government on 11 June 1931. After the Second World War it stood empty; Batak Christians held their first service in Yogyakarta on 7 April 1946 and rented this church on Jalan Soeltansboulevard in August 1948, buying it in December 1955.
The name Huria Kristen Batak Protestan marks the congregation as Batak Protestant, and the building it uses was the Dutch Reformed Gereformeerde Kerk of 1923. Services follow HKBP Lutheran practice; the blue "HKBP" emblem on the tower identifies the denomination to passers-by.
The building is accessible by public transport and located in an active neighborhood of Yogyakarta with shops and restaurants nearby. Visitors should dress appropriately for a religious site and be mindful of active worship times.
The building was not originally Batak or Lutheran: it was the Gereformeerd Kerk, inaugurated by Ds D. Baker on 21 May 1923 for Dutch residents of Kotabaru. During the Japanese occupation in 1942 it was used by Muslims as a mosque and storehouse before the congregation secured it. HKBP bought the church on Jalan I Dewa Nyoman Oka 22 in December 1955 after collecting funds from 1953.
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