Braga Street (official name in Indonesian: Jalan Braga) is a small street in the center of Bandung, Indonesia, which was famous in the 1920s as a promenade street. Chic cafes, boutiques and restaurants with European ambiance along the street had made the city to attain the Paris of Java nickname. The street starts from a T-junction with the Asia-Afrika Street (or De Groote Postweg during the colonial times) to the north until the city council (balaikota), which was formerly a coffee warehouse.
Early history
The first name of the street was Karreweg. The city residents dubbed it Pedatiweg, from the Indonesian language of horse-drawn carriages (pedati), because it was a narrow street (about 10 m or 30 feet wide) that only carriages could pass through. The street was built only to connect the major Great Post Road with a coffee warehouse, owned by a Dutch coffee plantation owner Andries de Wilde (the warehouse is now the seat of the city administration or balaikota). In 1856, when Bandung was the capital of Priangan Regency, some colonial houses were built along the dirt road of Braga Street with their houses thatched with reeds, alang-alang grass or other straw materials.
In 1882, a theater group established itself at the south part of the street and the Toneel Braga, the name of the drama group, became famous. Residents flocked into the street to watch the group's performance every night and therefore the road was improved by stone pavements, and oil lamps were installed. The street was at that time popularly known as the Braga street.
In 1884, a railroad connecting Batavia to Bandoeng was laid down and the city core grew rapidly. New buildings filled the southern end of the street while the northern end was still a rubber tree forest. The street became more famous with a grocery store named De Vries which sold daily needs for plantation owners. Hotels, banks, cafes and restaurants were opened and the street transformed into a major shopping street.
In the early twentieth century, the street was the most important European shopping street in the Dutch Indies. Several well-known Western companies opened their stores in the street, including Chrysler, Plymouth and Renault car distributors.[1] Colonial bookstores, watches and jeweleries retailers and boutique shops were common in the street for the high society.
Jalan Braga Bandung – The Best Of Bandoeng Tempo Doeloe
Jalan Braga Bandung – Adalah nama sebuah jalan utama di kota Bandung, Indonesia. Nama jalan ini cukup dikenal sejak masa pemerintahan Hindia-Belanda. Sampai saat ini nama jalan tersebut tetap dipertahankan sebagai salah satu maskot dan salah satu obyek wisata kota Bandung yang dahulu dikenal sebagai Parijs van Java (Sumber: Wikipedia).
Tempat Wisata Jalan Braga di kota Bandung berkonsep One Stop Holiday di pusat Kota Bandung ini merupakan pusat keramaian dan bisnis utama di kota Bandung.sejak zaman pendudukan Belanda di indonesia atau pada ,zaman kolonials,Jalan Braga Bandung sudah dijadikan sebagai jalanan protokoler di kota Bandung,sebagai terusan jalan utama dari arah Gedung Konferensi Asia Afrika.
Di sisi kanan kiri sepanjang Jalan Braga Bandung terdapat banyak kompleks pertokoan yang memiliki arsitektur dan tata kota yang tetap mempertahankan ciri arsitektur lama pada masa Hindia Belanda. Tata letak pertokoan tersebut mengikuti model yang ada di Eropa sesuai dengan perkembangan kota Bandung pada masa itu (1920-1940-an) sebagai kota mode yang cukup termasyhur seperti halnya kota Paris pada saat itu,seperti pertokoan Sarinah,Apotik Kimia Farma dan Gedung tempat diselenggarakannya Konferensi Asia Afrika Gedung Merdeka ( Societeit Concordia ).
