The Herb Museum of Nyonya Meener

The museum is built to commemorate the late Mrs. (Nyonya) Meneer who had rendered in socializing the use of herb for disease healing especially in Java Island. She established the Nyonya Meneer herb factory of Semarang in the beginning of the 20th century. The museum which was built on January 18, 1984, housing various kinds of attractions relating to the history of Nyonya Meneer and her herbal medicines, namely:

1. The history of “Jamu” in general.


2. The photographs of Nyonya Meneer.


3. The photographs relating to the history of Nyonya Meneer and her family.


4. The personal collections of Nyonya Meneer.


5. Photographs and information on the traditional production tools which have historical values since they were used in the early production of the herbal medicines.
6. A panel which relates the history of Nyonya Meneer.
7. “Botekan” is storage for original formula along with the plants used for the ingredients.
8. Examples of office equipments used in the early of the nineteen fifties and tools used in the traditional manufacture of jamu.
9. A scale used in weighing the ingredients and the traditional drinking set.
10. Samples of the advertising and packaging during the growth of the jamu industry along witn some of the various ingredients used.

VISITING REGULATIONS

Visitors are obliged to take part in the maintenance and preservation of the Museum collections, including:

• Not smoking in the museum


• Putting rubbish in the waste-baskets


• Keeping to a minimum touching the objects of historical value


• Not taking a picture

Located in Jl. Kaligawe no. 4, Semarang and opened for visitor on Monday to Friday, 10.00 a.m. until 03.30 p.m. It closes on Saturday, Sunday and other holidays.

For a group more than 25 persons, we would appreciate if you inform us 1 (one) week in advance.

Profile.

PT. Nyonya Meneer is remarkable and is one from which everyone can learn from. It started when Mrs. Meneer, a Sidoarjo born woman, followed her husband to move to Semarang.

The name "Meneer" did not denote "mister" in Dutch. In fact, in Javanese, menir refers to crushed rice, and this name was given to her as Meneer's mother craved for menir rice during her pregnancy.

Mrs. Meneer went through hardship as her husband fell ill and did not recover despite countless treatments and medications.

This inspired Mrs. Meneer to begin trying to compound her own jamu - traditional medicine made of natural herbs.

The Jamu she compounded proved to work as her husband recovered from the illness. The quality of Mrs. Meneer's jamu was later acknowledged by many people. As it transformed into a successful home business, the portrait on the packages of her jamu became a trademark. It was for the loyal customers recognize the product is being high quality.

Since then, the sole proprietorship had been expanding into a large corporation, PT. Nyonya Meneer celebrates its 88th anniversary in 2007.

For 88th years, the family business has been going through ups and downs. They involved conflicts regarding company ownership within the family and painful dispute among siblings. However, the relentless struggle of the company's successors allowed PT. Nyonya Meneer to survive and retain its triumphs. Today, PT. Nyonya Meneer is led by DR. Charles Saerang as the company's third-generation successors.

It has been said that building is easier than maintaining; and this is proven to be somewhat true, however the family intends to continue the tradition of Mrs. Meneer and her visions for helping the people of Indonesia.