Kolmanskop

Kolmanskop(Afrikaansfor "Coleman's peak",German:Kolmannskuppe) is aghost townin theNamibin southernNamibia,10 kilometres (6.2 mi) inland from the port town ofLüderitz.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.Once a small but very rich mining village, it is now a popular tourist destination run by Namdeb, a joint firm owned by the Namibian government andDe Beers.

Kolmanskop
Town
An aerial view of Kolmanskop
Kolmanskop Location in Namibia
Coordinates:26.70406°S 15.232365°E/-26.70406; 15.232365
Country	Namibia
Region	ǁKaras Region
Population (2024)
• Total	0

History

Foundation and peak

In 1908, in what was thenGerman South-West Africa,a railroad workerZacharias Lewalafound a diamond while working in this area and showed it to his supervisor, the German railway inspectorAugust Stauch.Realizing the area was rich in diamonds, German miners settled, and soon after theGerman Empiredeclared a large area as a "Sperrgebiet",starting to exploit the diamond field.

Driven by the enormous wealth of the first diamond miners, the residents built the village in the architectural style of aGermantown, with amenities and institutions including a hospital, ballroom, power station, school,skittle-alley, theatre and sport-hall, casino, ice factory and the firstx-ray-station in the southern hemisphere, as well as the first tram in Africa.

Kolmanskop had a railway link toLüderitzand was also the terminus of two private narrow-gauge electrified railway lines that served the diamondmining industryfurther south. One ran 119 kilometres (74 mi) viaPomonatoBogenfels.It was completed in 1913 but destroyed duringWorld War Iin 1915 bySouth Africantroops. The other railway line, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and completed in 1920, led toCharlottental.Both were powered by a 1.5 megawatts (2,000 hp) power station in Lüderitz, then assumed to be the largest in Africa.

Decline

The town started to decline during World War I when the diamond field slowly started to deplete. By the early 1920s, the area was in a severe decline. Hastening the town's demise was the discovery in 1928 of the richest diamond-bearing deposits ever known, on the beach terraces 270 kilometres (170 mi) south of Kolmanskop, near the Orange River. Many of the town's inhabitants joined the rush to the south, leaving their homes and possessions behind. The new diamond find merely required scouting the beaches as opposed to more difficult mining. The town was ultimately abandoned in 1956. The geological forces of thedesertmean 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, and the arid climate preserving the traditionalEdwardian architecturein the area. Due to its location within the restricted area (Sperrgebiet) of the Namib desert, tourists need a permit to enter the town.

In popular culture

• Kolmanskop was featured on the seriesMysteries of the Abandonedepisode entitled "Animal Uprising", that first aired on 18 October 2020 on the Animal Planet Channel.
• Kolmanskop was used as the location for the South African TV filmThe Mantis Project(1987). Directed by Manie van Rensburg, produced by Paul Kemp, written byJohn Cundill,and starringMarius WeyersandSandra Prinsloo.
• Kolmanskop was a filming location for the 1990 South African adventure filmThe Sandgrass People.
• The town was used as one of the locations in the 1993 filmDust Devil.
• The 2000 filmThe King Is Alivewas filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town used as the film's main setting.
• The town was featured in a2010 episodeofLife After People.The episode focused on the effects of wind and sand on the various run-down buildings and displayed rooms that were filled with sand.
• The town was used as one of the locations in the 1994 filmLunarcop.
• The town was used in the first episode of the BBC seriesWonders of the Universeto help explainentropyand its effect on time.
• The television seriesDestination Truthin one of its episodes investigated Kolmanskop, rumored to be haunted.
• Tim Walker photographedAgyness Deynin Kolmanskop, Namibia forVogue UKin May 2011.
• The 2011 non-narrative filmSamsarafeatures shots filmed in Kolmanskop.
• The town featured in 2011 on season 1, episode 2 "Namibia/Bodie" of the television showForgotten Planet.
• The cover ofTame Impala's fourth album,The Slow Rushand its singles were photographed at Kolmanskop byNeil Krug.
• The music video forGeorge Watsky's "Undermine" from thePlacementalbum was filmed in Kolmanskop.
• Parts of the 2024 TV seriesFalloutwere filmed in the area.

Literature

• Noli, Gino:Desert Diamonds.Gino Noli, Plettenberg Bay 2010,ISBN978-0-620-40680-2.

Gallery

• 
  An abandoned building
• 
  Interior of an abandoned house
• 
  The town sign ofKolmannskuppe
• 
  Abandoned houses in Kolmanskop
• 
  Abandoned houses
• 
  After the depopulation, sand invaded the houses
• 
  House of the former mine manager
• 
  Main view ofKolmannskuppe
• 
  An aerial view of Kolmanskop
• 
  Ice factory
• 
  Bedroom
• 
  House of the teacher
• 
  10Pfennigstamp with postmarkKolmannskuppe 19. 1. 12
• 
  Inside Kolmanskop ballroom
• 
  Aerial view of Kolmanskop (2017)
• 
  Hospital of Kolmanskop

See also

• Elizabeth Bay

External links

• "Kolmanskop Ghost Town Tour".The Cardboard Box Travel Shop (website).Retrieved11 November2013.
• Martin, Grant (3 September 2013)."New Photos from Kolmanskop, Namibia's Abandoned Diamond Ghost Town".Forbes.Retrieved11 November2013.
• "A Ghost Town Devoured by the Namibian Desert".Environmental Graffiti (2010).Archived fromthe originalon 11 November 2013.Retrieved11 November2013.
• Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Created By The Sands Of Time – Horror World