The German Empire had reached the peak of its influence by the dawn of WWI. Though later to the colonial game than many of its rival European powers, by 1914 Germany had established territories everywhere from New Guinea to northeast China, while back home its borders included vast tracts of present-day Poland and Russia. But it was in German Southwest Africa (now Namibia), one of the country’s few African possessions, where real fortunes could be made. Diamonds were discovered here in 1908, and within six years over 2000 pounds of the precious stone had been dredged up from the sands of the Namib desert. Enterprising Germans wanting their own slice of the good life flocked to Kolmanskop, and soon this far-flung desert outpost became one of the richest towns in the world, with a bowling alley, gym, outdoor swimming pool, the first tram in Africa, and a 200-bed hospital that boasted the first X-ray machine in the southern hemisphere.
But the good life couldn’t go on forever, and shortly after the war the sand-clearing crews were given their papers and Kolmanskop was abandoned. Today this windswept sarcophagus of a town is slowly sinking back into the desert that once gave it a reason for being.
Shiny Sign for a Ghost Line
The Granular Ocean
Rival Narratives of Erosion and Burial
Century Tides
In Case of Emergency Bring a Shovel. Photo by Natalie Theron.
Sandcrawler Playground / Exit Frame Left
Weatherproofing / Exit Frame Right
Glass Fortified
Skeleton Attic
Skeleton Chamber
Millionaires’ Row Macro
Millionaires’ Row Micro
Trekking the Great Rift Valley
The Shadow Reclamation Project
Emergency Exits I, II and III. Photo by Natalie Theron
Geometric Order / An Insulated Border
Dreadnoughts of the High Seas
The Electric Sky
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How did you find it in the first place?
I first saw it in the movie Samsara a few years ago and it looked like the most fantastic place. It’s a long drive to get to (from anywhere, really) but is well-marked and definitely worth the trip.
what i loved most about visiting this place is that your footprints in the sand are gone within seconds…..
Was it very expsensive to head there? and what supplies did you have to take with you on the trip? I imagine its quite isolated.
Kolmanskop is a ten hour drive from the Namibian capital Windhoek, or two long days from either Cape Town or Johannesburg. But the port at Lüderitz is nearby, and makes for a convenient jumping-off point from which to explore. Kolmanskop is technically in the “sperrgebiet”, Namibia’s large forbidden zone, but passes are easy to obtain in Lüderitz. People do visit, a few a day (note footprints in the sand in some photos), but the place is definitely a mission to get to.