Kolmanskop

Monday, 05 April 2010 11:45 |

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Kolmanskop

Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for Coleman's hill, German: Kolmannskuppe) is a ghost town in the Namib desert in southern Namibia, a few kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. Once a small mining village of the De Beers Mining Company, it is a popular tourist destination run by the joint firm NamDeb (Namibia-De Beers).

The company town was developed after the discovery of diamonds in the area in 1908, to provide shelter for De Beers' workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny Coleman who, during a sand storm, abandoned his ox wagon on a small incline opposite the settlement.Driven by the enormous wealth of the first diamond miners, the company and individuals built the village in the architectural style of a Dutch town, with amenities and institutions including a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, skittle-alley, theater and sport-hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray-station in the southern hemisphere, as well as the first tram in Africa. It had a railway link to Lüderitz.The town declined after World War I when diamond prices crashed and operations were moved to Oranjemund. The company abandoned it in 1956 but has since partly restored some of the structures. The geological forces of the desert mean that tourists now walk through houses knee-deep in sand.

Kolmanskop is popular with photographers for its settings of the desert sands' reclaiming this once thriving town. Due to its location within the restricted area (Sperrgebiet) of the Namib desert, tourists need a permit to enter the town.

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Last Updated (Monday, 05 April 2010 11:55)

Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

Kolmanskop

Kolmanskop

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