Max Havelaar
The Multatuli museum is located in the birthplace of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887), who wrote his most famous novel Max Havelaar under the pseudonym Multatuli. In the Max Havelaar, Multatuli denounced the Dutch government for their exploitation of the population and other abuses in the the former Dutch kolonies of the East Indies, which he witnessed as a civil servant. The book is still considered as one of the most important 'whistleblower' novels in Dutch literary history. For the first time, everyone could read about the seriousness of the situation in the colonies and, especially at the beginning of the 20th century, this fuelled resistance to colonialism. Even in his later work, Multatuli continued to campaign for the rights of minority groups. He made ardent pleas for the emancipation and suffrage of women and campaigned for workers' rights.
Workplace
The Multatuli museum houses Multatuli's workplace, furniture and books. Choose a guided tour by one of the tour guides or take your time to study the library. Learn more about the history of the Netherlands and Indonesia at the time of Multatuli's stay, and get to know the author's multifaceted work and his personal life.
