Karel Holle

Karel Frederik Holle (9 October 1829 in Amsterdam, Netherlands – 3 May 1896 in Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies) was a 19-century Dutch colonial administrator in the Dutch East Indies.

Family and early years
Karel Holle was the eldest son of Pieter Holle and Alexandrine Albertine van der Hucht. After his father's unsuccessful attempts to start a sugar refinery in Koblenz in 1836, the Holle and van der Hucht families went to the Dutch East Indies in 1843 to seek their fortunes in the sugar plantations. Karel's uncle from the van der Hucht family obtained work at a tea company, and his father became the administrator of the Bolang coffee estate near Buitenzorg. His father soon died, after which Karel was educated at home in Batavia in 1845, together with the children of Jan Jacob Rochussen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1845 to 1851.

Early administrative career
In 1846, Karel Holle was appointed clerk at the residential bureau in Tjiandjoer (Cianjur) in West Java. While he was employed by the government as a young man, he quickly became interested in the local Sundanese culture. After his appointment in 1847 as a clerk at the Directorate of Cultures (Dutch: directie der Kultures) in Batavia and then as 3rd commissioner at the Directorate of Resources and Domains (Dutch: directie der Middelen en Domeinen), he was appointed 1st commissioner in 1853. In 1858, at the age of 27, he became administrator at the Tjikadjang Company (Cikajang Company) in West Java.

In 1865, he rented a parcel of uncultivated land on the northern slope of Mount Tjikoerai (Cikurai), about 13 kilometers south of Garoet (Garut) in Preanger (Parahyangan). He cultivated the land, turned it into a plantation, and called it "Waspada," Indonesian for "be on your guard."

Agricultural development
Holle promoted agricultural development among the local Sundanese people. As the first "agricultural educator" in the Dutch East Indies, he conducted trials to convince Sundanese farmers that rice farming was possible with his method of obtaining higher rice yields. He also wrote about his agricultural methods and translated them into Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese. In his more than 200 publications, he wrote about topics such as freshwater fish farming and rice agriculture. He also advised against soil erosion and land overuse.

Cultural interests
Holle spoke fluent Sundanese and studied the Koran and many Javanese texts. Due to his knowledge and interest in working with the local Sundanese people, he was appointed as an unpaid government advisor. This gave him great influence over administrative and economic policy in West Java. Holle was involved in agriculture, industry, education, language, and administration. In Preanger, he started a local teachers school.

Holle also wrote extensively about Sundanese cultural traditions and literature, such as Old Sundanese inscriptions, the Buda script, and Sundanese proverbs.

Views on religion
Holle was against what he called "fanatical" Islam, and believed Muslims should be free to fulfill their religious obligations, but with separation of religion and politics. Holle's view was similar to that of Governor-General Cornelis Pijnacker Hordijk and also C. Snouck Hurgronje.

At the end of 1871, he was rewarded for his service with a new position as Honorary Advisor for Domestic Affairs at the Department of Home Affairs.

Vocabulary lists
Holle collected vocabulary lists of hundreds of language varieties throughout Indonesia. The vocabulary lists that he designed for distribution and elicitation around the Dutch East Indies continued to be collected into the 1930s, long after his death in 1896. The lists were held at the Museum Nasional in Jakarta for decades. In the 1980s, the "Holle lists" were edited by Wim A. L. Stokhof and published by Pacific Linguistics in 11 sets of volumes.

Final years


Due to declining health, Holle left his "Waspada" farm in 1889 and settled in Buitenzorg (Bogor). He died penniless in Buitenzorg. Holle was buried in Tanah Abang, a cemetery in Jakarta. In 1899, a monument to him was erected in the central square (alun-alun) of the provincial town of Garoet. The monument's obelisk features a bronze portrait of Holle with the inscription "De Heren van de Thee".