May 2025

Ghost town in the Namib Desert

In our previous post, we showed you how beautiful it was in the coastal town of Lüderitz (read here). The next morning, we left before sunrise because there was a very special place we wanted to visit – and we wanted to be there before the tour buses arrived.

The bay of Lüderitz before sunrise – taken from our room

Kolmanskop (Kolmannskuppe in German) is a ghost town in the Namib Desert and about 10km/6 miles inland from Lüderitz. It was regarded as one of the richest towns in Africa during a diamond boom in 1910, but then abandoned after World War I.

Sunrise on our way to Kolmanskop

Part of Kolmanskop as seen from the main highway

A bit of history on Kolmanskop:

In 1908 Kolmanskop was just a small railway station between Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop, but everything changed when Zacharias Lewala, a railway worker, found a shiny stone. He took the stone to the chief railway foreman August Stauch. Stauch immediately assumed that the stone was a diamond which was confirmed by his mining engineer friend Söhnke Nissen. The two of them kept quiet about their finding, quit their jobs and secured claims at Kolmanskop where they successfully continued their search for diamonds.

At the entrance of Kolmanskop

But, unfortunately for them, this was not a secret for long, and soon diamond fever hit Kolmanskop when diamond seekers flocked to the area. Suddenly, the once small railway station transformed into a thriving town. By 1911, there was electricity, luxurious stone houses, a school and hospital. It seems that entertainment was also important, as there was a theatre, ballroom, bowling alley, and even a casino. All of this was built for the less than 400 people who lived there.

Abandoned house among the sand dunes of the Namib Desert

Until the outbreak of World War I, more than 1 ton of diamonds was mined in Kolmanskop. However, with the production in 1914 nearly zero, the diamond mining in Kolmanskop ended as swiftly as it had begun. Diamond mining then moved to Oranjemund, a town along the Orange River and south of Lüderitz.

More abandoned houses

This was the end of a once prosperous town. With the last resident leaving Kolmanskop between 1956 and 1960, the desert reclaimed the area.

The once luxurious houses of Kolmanskop

The houses of Kolmanskop:

Some of the houses have been restored to show how they looked in the heydays and others not. These houses are now slowly but surely being taken over by the desert again.

Let’s go for a walk through the once luxurious houses of Kolmanskop:

Direktorenhaus (Director’s House):

The director of Kolmanskop’s house

The director’s house was the first to be renovated and is the most impressive of all the houses in Kolmanskop.

Entrance of the house

One of the rooms

Staircase

Top floor

Corridor to the bathroom

Buchhalterhaus (Bookkeeper’s House):

Bookkeeper’s house

The bookkeeper/accountant lived next door to the director.

Entrance

Some of the rooms are blocked off where visitors are not allowed to enter, due to their deteriorated condition.

Do not enter

Once expensive wallpaper decorated some of the rooms

One of the upper rooms with a view

Washbasin

Big window

Architektenhaus (Architect’s House):

Architect’s house

The architect of Kolmanskop, Mr Ziegler built numerous houses together with Herrmann Metje, the state architect. They also built the railway station in Lüderitz in 1914.

Inside the architect’s house

Window with a view over the desert

Lehrerhaus (Teacher’s House):

Teacher’s house

Entrance to this house is prohibited due to its condition and the amount of sand.

Quartiermeisterhaus (Quartermaster’s House):

Front view of the quartermaster’s house

Compared to the teacher’s house, that of the quartermaster is much larger. The quartermaster was in charge of supplies for the town. This house also had room for a post office and has an elegant sweeping staircase.

Elegant staircase

More of the beautiful wallpaper that we have also seen in some of the other houses

Balcony with a view

I couldn’t resist the bath

Haus des Ingenieurs (Engineer’s House):

The engineer’s house

According to the information in the museum, Leonard Kolle was the engineer of Kolmanskop. Most of the rooms in this house have been almost completely taken over by the desert.

Inside the house

The desert claims its place back

Arzthaus (Doctor’s House):

Doctor’s house

Kolmanskop had the services of two doctors, one of whom had a strong belief in using a little wine or champagne to heal patients – because of this, the hospital had its own wine cellar. I think he must have had quite a few patients.

Inside the doctor’s house

One of the windows with a view towards the hospital

Krankenhaus (Hospital):

The hospital

The hospital in Kolmanskop had the first X-ray machine in the southern hemisphere. In addition to using this machine on patients, it was also used to detect the smuggling of diamonds.

Entrance to the hospital

The long corridor is typical of a hospital

Sandy road to the loo

You can leave the hospital by walking through the window

Many windows with views over the desert

We’re leaving the hospital through one of the side entrances

There are quite a few more buildings that one can visit, such as the school, a bakery, a cooldrink and ice factory, bar and also the butchery. But by now, we were sand-tired (if that’s a word) – and I’m sure you too. It was almost two hours since we started our tour through Kolmanskop and we were hungry, so we headed towards the restaurant.

On the way to the Kolmanskuppe Café, we stopped by the bowling alley and casino. The casino was also used for social gatherings, a gym, and theatre performances. They really had it all!

Bowling alley of Kolmanskop

Casino and also the place for all other social gatherings

The restaurant was quite busy with tourists and guides. But Soekie, the waiter/barista/cashier, was excellent and kept everyone happy. We ordered toasted sarmies and omelette, which were delicious.

Look at the size of that omelette

Soekie was such a wonderful host at Kolmanskuppe Café

We hope you enjoyed this post about a forgotten diamond town in the middle of a desert. It’s a place we always wanted to see (probably because we both worked for a diamond mining company at the beginning of our working careers), and we’re glad we set aside a considerable amount of time to explore the last remnants of a once-flourishing town.

In our next post, we’ll show you our first campsite on this road trip – but not before we search for the Namibian Wild Horses again. You can read more about this when you click here.