Junghuhn and the Image of Priangan

Hawé Setiawan

Little is my knowledge of the life and time of Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn (1809-
1864), for I have only read limited sources on the subject. Among the
materials I have studied so far is an account of the man by Rob Nieuwenhuys
in a chapter of his Mirror of Indies, an English version of the Dutch book
about the history of ‘Dutch Colonial literature’. Despite the fact that as a
scientist Junghuhn had never written any single work of ‘literature’ —at least,
in its narrow sense—, the author praised Junghuhn as ‘an important writer’ 1.
It is very interesting that in tracing the historical pathway of the literature,
Niewenhuys paid attention not only to novelists and poets, but also to
historian, botanist, and naturalist. Junghuhn was one of the very names.

The German born naturalist, Junghuhn undertook researches in Sumatra and

Java, including in West Java. His name is still remembered by some West
Java people, mainly those who live around Bandung. His tomb is located on
the plain of Lembang, north of Bandung. One of contemporary accounts of
Junghuhn’s legacies in Java is a feature article by Jakarta-based young
historian J.J. Rizal in the Indonesian edition of National Geographic
magazine. Entitled Dia yang Pamit kepada Gunung ‘He Who Said Farewell to
the Mount’ Rizal’s account emphasized Junghuhn’s contributions to quinine
cultivation in 19th century West Java. He stated, ‘In Bandung, Junghuhn’s
name has been positioned at the same level with some big names of
international academic world such as Eijkman, Pasteur, Bosscha, Ehrlich,
Otten, and Westhoff, which are memorized as street names—though many of
the residents have forgotten them.’

Rizal also took into account an interesting aspect of Junghuhn’s works: his
skill in creating pictures, including his initiative in pioneering the use of
photography for naturalists’ undertakings. ‘Apart from his literary talent,
Junghuhn was also strongly talented in drawing. This could be seen in nearly
all of his books. Junghuhn was capable to create fine pictorial compositions.
Strong are his lines in catching the details. Attracting is his way in setting the
colours so that we could feel the tropical nature he depicted. In those times
great naturalists like Humboldt and Haeckel were indeed keen on creating
sketches, aquarelles, and other illustrations to be printed on their books.
Junghuhn had even specially published a big coloured lithographs book
depicting the landscapes of Java, Lanschafts-Ansichten von Java,’ said Rizal
in his feature article2.

It is this pictorial aspect that makes me interested in the works of Junghuhn,

for I have been undertaking a research on the visualization of Priangan
landscapes made by European illustrators in colonial era. A couple of months

1
See Rob Nieuwenhuys, Mirror of the Indies: A History of Dutch Colonial
Literature, translated from Dutch by Frans van Rosevelt, edited by E.M. Beekman
(University of Massachusetts, 1982).
2
For more details, visit the website at
http://nationalgeographic.co.id/featurepage/180/dia-yang-pamit-kepada-gunung/1)
a go I went to the library of Bandung Geological Museum. Thanks to a friend
who worked there, I saw some interesting drawings of Priangan made by
Junghuhn. Some of his drawings can also be accessed on the Internet. As far
as Priangan landscapes are concerned, we can notice here that Junghuhn had
explored mountainous regions of Priangan for about 12 years, so that his
exploration throughout the region had produced remarkable number of
drawings. Among the sceneries of Priangan that were pictured by Junghuhn
were Mount Gede, Mount Guntur, Mount Krakatau, Mount Tampomas,
Patengan Lake, and Patuha Crater.

Nieuwenhuys himself noticed this pictorial aspect of Junghuhn’s works as

follows:

‘From 1852 until 1854, four volumes appeared of his standard work, which
was immediately followed by a revised, second edition entitled Java's Shape,
Flora and Internal Structure (Java, deszelfs gedaante, bekleeding en
inwendige structuur). The work was "embellished" with maps and drawings,
outlines of mountains and landscapes, all masterfully executed. Minister of
Colonies Pahud also commissioned him to draw a Map of the Island of Java
(Kaart van bet eiland Java, 1855), and his book about Java has a companion
volume of colored lithographs done after Junghuhn’s own drawings called
Atlas of Views, containing Eleven Picturesque Scenes (Atlas van platen,
bevattende elf pittoreske gezichten). To Junghuhn, an artistically appealing
landscape meant "a question of fantasy, subject to a number of
interpretations." "My landscapes," he wrote, "are essentially lifelike." They
show cloud formations that look like "clenched fists,'' side views of geological
strata, the shape of branches, and the structures of leaves. They have been
drawn exactly as he observed them either with a magnifying glass or with a
powerful telescope, Junghuhn's landscapes are meant to illustrate his
scientific purpose of natural observation, and his introductions to the plates
clearly reveal his working method. For example, a lithograph showing the
mountain Gunung Gedeh is accompanied by the instruction that the spectator
should imagine himself in the same forest as described in volume one of
Java's Shape. However, in order to get any view at all, the dense jungle has
been omitted and only the flowering leptospermum floribundum has been
allowed to remain, he tells us. Although Junghuhn himself considered his
drawings "lifelike," they do strike us as decidedly unreal because their details
are not integrated with the whole. They resemble landscapes of an alien world,
and that may well explain why they are so fascinating. The only extensive
commentary written by Junghuhn on the lithographs is to be found in the
German edition of 1853, entitled Landschafts-Ansichten von Java.’3

3
Nieuwenhuys, ibid. pp 74-75.