Completed in 1627, the building initially served as the Dutch East Indies company's Town Hall. Additions and renovations including a stone gate, offices and renovations were added between 1705 and 1715. The well-known Indonesian hero, Diponegoro,was said to have been imprisoned in its dungeon before his exile to South Sulawesi.

The building was being used as military barracks and offices when the Jakarta City Administration decided in the early 1970s to make it the focus of a restoration plan of old Batavia. Now a Museum, it provides the historical background of Jakarta through displays of old maps and antiquities. Including furniture and porcelain used by the Dutch rulers of Batavia, as well as a 16th century Portuguese cannon which stands just across the cobblestone square.