In the early 1900s diamonds were found by a railway worker which lead to a town being established to mine the diamonds. Due to the riches created by the industry, the settlement became a state of the art German town. They had many modern institutions such as a hosptial, ballroom, power plant, school, bowling alley, casino, and even an ice factory. The town also featured the first tram in Africa and the first X-ray station in the southern hemisphere. They had a railway connected to Luderitz.
After the diamonds were all mined away the town declined and eventually was abandoned in 1954. With the desert taking over, today Kolmanskop has become a popular tourist destination especially for photographers looking to capture the unique settings. The site is run by NamDeb the diamond mining company that is still actively mining further away.
From my hotel, I got a lift from Luderitz to the nearby town. A N$75 entry fee was collected at the gate before entering the site. I was the only tourist on a 9:30 a.m. tour and had two tour guides as one person was in training.
The friendly German locals took me through the history of the location and through a couple of houses. He warned me of snakes, especially in the isolated houses further away. In the main building which has a restaurant and gift shop, we saw the auditorium and large kitchen. There was an informative display of old pictures and even a room about methods used to smuggle diamonds.
Many of the buildings still had original items in place and displayed like a museum. We saw the skittle-alley, a bowling like sport still popular in Luderitz today. Residents use to receive rations of meat, bread, water, and even ice on a daily basis. The meat hooks of the butchery are still visible. Everyday, water was shipped from South Africa and hauled into town by mules, then stored in the water tanks at the top of the hill. Next to the tanks is the swimming pool which was filled with salt water, manually pumped from the sea.
Then after the tour I had time to explore the houses. Dodging snakes and searching for diamonds and photo-ops, I carefully went through each building, like Indiana Jones on a new adventure.
Legend has it that when the village was initially built they didn’t know that there were diamonds in the sand, so when the concrete was mixed for the building walls, it could have included diamonds. At the further houses, I spotted a clear crystal which was either a massive 6 carat diamond or a chunk of glass. I was told that NamDeb does pay you a percentage of the value as a finders fee when you turn in diamond. It is also illegal and strictly prohibited to take any diamonds away from the site.
In my intense exploration I managed to lose the rock and I never did find out what it was. Alas the mysteries of Kolmanskop will continue to intrigue me for years to come.