When booking a Namibia tour, the name Kolmanskop could come up as one of the places you will visit. This fascinating little town is a must visit for the adventurer looking for a different kind of destination.
Zacherias Lewala was a railway worker shovelling drift sand off the railway tracks when he found some interesting looking stones. Fortunately for him, his inspector was a naturalist who asked the workers to bring any interesting finds to his office. Mr Stauch, his inspector, a former employee of De Beers in South Africa, took the stones to Luderitz for an expert opinion. Low and behold, the stones were diamonds!
Formerly the then German South-West Africa, had been offered to the Cape Government, who had politely refused this inhospitable region. The area was quickly pegged out and claimed. Labourers searched the area with jam jars, often even by moonlight. The jars filled quickly and the area was declared one of the richest diamond deposits in the world.
The town of Kolmanskop grew out of the diamonds found in the area. The area was under German administration and the town reflected the German character. Houses went up as well as a pub and skittle alley. By 1912 the area produced 11.7 per cent of the world’s total diamond production. The miners were able to afford every luxury in this harsh and barren landscape.
The mining operations were interrupted during World War 1, but resumed soon after. By the 1930’s the diamonds were all but depleted. In 1928 the richest diamond bearing deposits were found 270km south of Kolmanskop and the town’s inhabitants made a rush south, often leaving behind all the possessions. By 1956 the last three families deserted the town.
It took just 40 years for Kolmanskop to live, flourish and die. Today the desert sand that was once swept daily from the buildings gathers around the buildings undisturbed. Slowly the desert is filling the buildings empty rooms through broken windows and doors that stand open. Inside the houses signs of the life that was there can be found. Beautifully tiled kitchens, a battered kettle, a sad wardrobe or a bathtub is all that remains. The German architecture is still visible from a distance as the buildings stand lonely in the vast sandy landscape. The desert air is dry, and the only sound carried on the wind is the squick of a window as it is slowly worked loose from its hinges. The only life left in the town is a few isolated shrubs testing the limits of survival.
Tours are available to the town. An hour long tour is offered daily and can be booked from Luderitz. Some buildings have been lovingly restored to give the visitor a feel of the town in its heyday. Other buildings have been left to the elements and leave you with an eerie feeling of a dead town. In 1980 De Beers established a museum that displays some of the old mining implements as well as an extensive collection of photographs of the town when it housed around 1300 people.