Museum Timah Pangkalpinang

Tin museum that tells the story of the industry that built and shaped Bangka

The Tin Museum is genuinely interesting, which is more than you can say for most provincial museums in Indonesia. It tells the full story of tin on Bangka — from the traditional mining methods of the early Chinese settlers, through the Dutch colonial extraction economy, to the mechanised open-pit mining that transformed (and scarred) large parts of the island in the 20th century. The exhibits are well arranged and some of the old mining equipment is impressive in scale.

This is the best single place to understand why Bangka looks and feels the way it does: why there are Chinese temples everywhere, why the interior of the island is a patchwork of lakes and disturbed land, why the food has the character it has. Half a morning here sets up the rest of your visit. Located in the centre of Pangkalpinang, easy to combine with the nearby klenteng and the city market.

things to do museum
A story
At its peak in the 18th century, Bangka produced roughly a third of the world's tin. The Dutch East India Company fought wars to control it, and the miners brought over from southern China to work the deposits created one of Indonesia's oldest and most distinctive Chinese-Malay communities — the roots of much of Pangkalpinang's culture today.

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