Kolmanskop

In 1908, in what was then German South-West Africa, a railroad worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond while working in this area and showed it to his supervisor, the German railway inspector August Stauch. Realizing the area was rich in diamonds, German miners settled, and soon after the German Empire declared a large area as a "Sperrgebiet", starting to exploit the diamond field.{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=G. |year=2008 |title=Treasures of the Diamond Coast |publisher=MacMillan Education |location=Windhoek |isbn=978-99916-0-968-3}}

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

Kolmanskop had a railway link to Lüderitz and was also the terminus of two private narrow-gauge electrified railway lines that served the diamond mining industry further south. One ran {{convert|119|km}} via Pomona to Bogenfels. It was completed in 1913 but destroyed during World War I in 1915 by South African troops. The other railway line, {{Convert|7|km}} long and completed in 1920, led to Charlottental. Both were powered by a {{Convert|1.5|MW}} power station in Lüderitz, then assumed to be the largest in Africa.{{citation

|title=The Development of the Namibian Railway Network |chapter=The German Period 1895–1915 |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Dierks |url=http://www.klausdierks.com/Namibia_Rail/2.htm |access-date=15 November 2023}}{{citation

|title=Namibias Schmalspureisenbahnen erschließen Afrikas letzte Wildnis. Namibias Schienenverkehr zwischen Aufbau und Rückgang |trans-title=Namibia's Narrow-Gauge Railways Develop Africa's Last Wilderness. Rise and Fall of Namibia's Railway Transport |language=de |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Dierks |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/Eisenbahnen/index.html |access-date=15 November 2023}}

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 {{convert|270|km}} 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 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, and the arid climate preserving the traditional Edwardian architecture in the area. Due to its location within the restricted area (Sperrgebiet) of the Namib desert, tourists need a permit to enter the town.

• Kolmanskop was featured on the series Mysteries of the Abandoned episode 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 film The Mantis Project (1987). Directed by Manie van Rensburg, produced by Paul Kemp, written by John Cundill, and starring Marius Weyers and Sandra Prinsloo.
• Kolmanskop was a filming location for the 1990 South African adventure film [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0807729/ The Sandgrass People].
• The town was used as one of the locations in the 1993 film Dust Devil.
• The 2000 film The King Is Alive was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town used as the film's main setting.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208911/ The King Is Alive], IMDB
• The town was featured in a 2010 episode of Life 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 film Lunarcop.
• The town was used in the first episode of the BBC series Wonders of the Universe to help explain entropy and its effect on time.
• The television series Destination Truth in one of its episodes investigated Kolmanskop, rumored to be haunted.
• Tim Walker photographed Agyness Deyn in Kolmanskop, Namibia for Vogue UK in May 2011.
• The 2011 non-narrative film Samsara features shots filmed in Kolmanskop.[http://www.cincyworldcinema.org/photos/samsara/SAMSARA%20LOCATIONS.pdf Samsara Location List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713114308/http://www.cincyworldcinema.org/photos/samsara/SAMSARA%20LOCATIONS.pdf |date=2019-07-13 }}, Cincinnati World Cinema
• The town featured in 2011 on season 1, episode 2 "Namibia/Bodie" of the television show Forgotten Planet.
• The cover of Tame Impala's fourth album, The Slow Rush and its singles were photographed at Kolmanskop by Neil Krug.{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/music/tame-impalas-kevin-parker-is-finally-ready-to-embrace-fame/image-gallery/a5d45ef369c6900b32808a76fbd942a5?pos=2|title=Tame Impala's Kevin Parker Is Finally Ready To Embrace Fame|website=GQ Australia|first=Noelle|last=Faulkner|date=19 January 2020|access-date=19 January 2020}}
• The music video for George Watsky's "Undermine" from the Placement album was filmed in Kolmanskop.
• Parts of the 2024 TV series Fallout were filmed in the area.{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/fallout-tv-show-wasteland-namib-desert/ |title=Fallout TV show didn't need to use CGI to create the Wasteland because it found the perfect real-life location |last=Milici |first=Lauren |date=13 April 2024 |website=gamesradar.com |publisher=Games Radar |access-date=16 April 2024}}

• Noli, Gino: Desert Diamonds. Gino Noli, Plettenberg Bay 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-620-40680-2}}.

Abandoned building, Kolmannskuppe, Namibia.jpg|An abandoned building

File:Abandonded house in Kolmanskop.png|alt=Interior of an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia|Interior of an abandoned house

File:01Kolmannskuppe.jpg|The town sign of Kolmannskuppe

File:Kolmannskuppe 02.jpg|Abandoned houses in Kolmanskop

File:Kolmanskop.jpg|Abandoned houses

File:Kolmanskop sand.jpg|After the depopulation, sand invaded the houses

File:Minenverwalter Kolmannskuppe.jpg|House of the former mine manager

File:Kolmanskop, Namibia (2813283661).jpg|Main view of Kolmannskuppe

File:Kolmanskop Ghost Town Buildings.jpg|An aerial view of Kolmanskop

File:Kolmannskuppe Eisfabrik.jpg|Ice factory

File:Kolmannskuppe Schlafzimmer.jpg|Bedroom

File:Kolmannskuppe Haus des Lehrers.jpg|House of the teacher

File:Kolmannskuppe stamp 1912.jpg|10 Pfennig stamp with postmark Kolmannskuppe 19. 1. 12

File:Kolmanskop, Namibia (3147308849).jpg|Inside Kolmanskop ballroom

File:Kolmanskop near Lüderitz, Namibia (2017).jpg|Aerial view of Kolmanskop (2017)

File:Kolmanskop hospital, Lüderitz (Namibia).jpg|Hospital of Kolmanskop

{{Commons category|Kolmannskuppe|Kolmanskop}}

• Elizabeth Bay

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web|title=Kolmanskop Ghost Town Tour|url=http://www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html|work=The Cardboard Box Travel Shop (website)|accessdate=11 November 2013}}
• {{cite news|last=Martin|first=Grant|title=New Photos from Kolmanskop, Namibia's Abandoned Diamond Ghost Town|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2013/09/03/kolmanskop-namibia-ghost-town/|accessdate=11 November 2013|newspaper=Forbes|date=3 Sep 2013}}
• {{cite web|title=A Ghost Town Devoured by the Namibian Desert|url=http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-kolmanskop-inside-namibian-ghost-town|work=Environmental Graffiti (2010)|accessdate=11 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111061024/http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-kolmanskop-inside-namibian-ghost-town|archive-date=11 November 2013|url-status=dead}}
• [https://horror-world.com/kolmanskop-ghost-tow/ Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Created By The Sands Of Time – Horror World]

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Category:Former populated places in Namibia

Category:Mining in Namibia

Category:Ghost towns in Africa

Category:Lüderitz

Category:Diamond industry

Category:1908 establishments in German South West Africa

Category:1956 disestablishments in South West Africa

Category:Populated places established in 1908

Category:Populated places disestablished in 1956