Elmina Java Museum

The Elmina Java Museum is a small private museum in Elmina, in Ghana's Central Region, devoted to the history of the Belanda Hitam — "Black Dutchmen" — African soldiers recruited on the Dutch Gold Coast in the nineteenth century to serve in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. It is funded and operated by the Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation and opened to the public on 15 February 2003.

The museum occupies a building known as Java House, which also holds the Foundation's offices and the Java Guesthouse. Its permanent exhibits trace the Belanda Hitam story, the relationship between Elmina, the Dutch and the Ashanti Empire, and aspects of Elmina's own history, including Ulzen family genealogy from 1731 and the story of two Ashanti princes, Kwasi Boakye and Kwame Poku, who were educated in the Netherlands in the 1800s. Displays include replicas of uniforms, paintings, photographs and documents from the East Indies military experience, along with Indonesian cultural artefacts and photographic collections relating to the Afro-Indonesian and Belanda Hitam communities.

The wider history the museum interprets is specific and far-reaching: between 1831 and 1872, roughly 3,000 African recruits sailed from Elmina to Batavia, now Jakarta, and veterans were allocated plots behind St. George's Castle on a hill still known as Java Hill. Income from the museum and guesthouse supports the Foundation's philanthropic work in education, public health and the arts, including scholarships for young people in the Elmina area.

The museum is at 61/21B TransAfrica Highway (the Cape Coast–Takoradi road), Teterkessim, Elmina, in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Municipal District. Guided tours are provided by appointment only, with stated windows of 10:00am–4:00pm on weekdays and noon–4:00pm at weekends. Admission is quoted at $5.00 for adult tourists and $2.50 for college or university students, with elementary and high school children free; local admission is quoted at GHC 5.00 for guided tours and GHC 2.50 for self-guided tours and local university students. The operator's page does not state a date for these prices, so visitors should confirm current rates and tour availability before travelling.