Kolmanskop was home to one of the most well-known diamond mines in recent history. German miners flocked to this city and soon hospitals, schools, and the first tram in Africa were built. As the diamond mine became void of its resources, miners and their families packed up and headed southward near the Orange River where the largest diamond mine known to man became fair game.
Looking at it now, it is hard to believe this ramshackle collection of derelict buildings was once one of the wealthiest communities in the world. Situated on the southern flank of West Africa’s sprawling Namib Desert, the small town of Kolmanskop has been reclaimed by the sand. But 100 years ago it was home to a busy diamond mine.
In the town’s heyday, the precious stones were so easy to find that they could be picked out of the sand. Workers armed with jam jars would crawl on hands and knees, filling them with diamonds.
But as resources are used up, people move on. Today Kolmanskop sits in a restricted zone controlled by the Namdeb Diamond Corporation, a joint venture owned by De Beers and the Namibian government. But with the right permit, people are welcome to visit. The sun-bleached ghost town is now a tourist destination and draws photographers the striking images as a reminder of how changing industries and economies leave their mark on the landscape.
Kolmanskop is named after an ox-cart driver called Johnny Coleman, who abandoned his wagon near the site during a sandstorm. The town eventually boasted a butchers, a bakers, an ice factory, a post office, several bars, a bowling alley, a well-equipped hospital and a concert hall, where opera companies from Europe would come to perform.
In 1912 Kolmanskop produced one million carats of diamonds – nearly 12% of the world’s total. The desert floor was systematically scraped clean when new machinery was introduced to recover the precious stones. Giant electric shovels allowed the sand to be shifted a truck-load at a time.
Yet by the 1930s the town’s riches were largely depleted. When diamond deposits were found 270km (168 miles) to the south, close to Namibia’s border with South Africa, many of Kolmanskop’s miners moved on. The last families abandoned the town to the desert in 1956.
