Roxanne Reid
  • Home
  • Book author
    • Travels in the Kalahari >
      • Photo gallery: Travels in the Kalahari
      • Book reviews: Travels in the Kalahari
    • A Walk in the Park >
      • Photo gallery: A Walk in the Park
      • Book reviews: A Walk in the Park
    • The Essential Guide to Self-Editing >
      • Book reviews: Essential Guide to Self-Editing
    • Betrayed
    • Book reviews online
  • Editing & proofreading
  • In the media
    • Travel features
    • Health features
    • Online media
    • Media kit
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Links
  • Contact

Past and present collide in Namibia’s ghost town

21/6/2017

4 Comments

 
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
By Roxanne Reid
I’ve talked before about how diamonds at Kolmanskop were so plentiful in the early 1900s that you could pluck them by the fistful off the open ground. The boom didn’t last long, but during its heyday some 1300 people lived and worked here. Today past and present collide with haunting magnetism at Kolmanskop ghost town in Namibia.

​Those were the glory days when Kolmanskop had its own transformer station, creating electricity by burning coal that was shipped to Lüderitz from Germany. So despite its isolation, the town had electricity from 6:00 till 17:00, but not in the evenings and weekends. Obviously power was important for the diamond works and other business, but less important for people’s private lives. 
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
​The Germans who lived here during the boom years had substantial houses, especially the architect, engineer and mine manager, whose plush double story was restored and is in relatively good condition.

​Our guide Netley Beukes said the most photographed house was that of the teacher, who the architect must have disliked. In the teeth of the wind, its one whole side had been ripped away and the house was almost entirely filled with sand. By contrast, the shrewd architect’s house was built more solidly and out of the path of the wind. 
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
The manager's house has been partially restored to give an idea of what it looked like in the early 1900s
Not far away the engineer’s house had two tree stumps outside it. Netley told us these used to be flourishing green trees a hundred years ago. How did they grow here in the desert?

‘Well, the engineer planned and laid the water pipes so he was able to build his house right next to them, and he drilled a little hole that “leaked” water to his house,’ she said. The story goes that he had two beautiful daughters, and it was said that they could ‘turn a desert into a garden’.

I couldn’t help noticing that the bachelors’ quarters, in what was called the ‘Bull’s convent’, were almost next door – and I wondered how much the engineer worried about having them so close to his lovely daughters.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
The teacher's house
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
​It must have been a harsh and lonely life for some 40 children who lived here, especially since pets would have been hard to keep in these desert conditions. But there’s a story of one family who had a pet ostrich – a creature already well-adapted to the hot, dry conditions. It bullied the residents and the only time anyone thought it was a remotely good idea was one Christmas when it pulled a sled carrying Father Christmas across the sand.

I felt the sadness oozing from beautiful homes that were falling apart, abandoned and no longer loved. Drifts of sand edged doors open, thirsty woodwork cracked and peeled, broken windows gazed out into the desert. All was silent but for the odd rumble from the main road as a truck passed on its way to Lüderitz, and a lonely bird that chirped briefly from a sand dune and then was gone.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
All the trappings of a busy little town
Looking at Kolmanskop now it’s hard to believe that it was once a bustling little town with a post office, police station, entertainment hall, school, hospital, general dealer, baker, lemonade factory and butcher. The butcher got his meat from farms nearby, though here in no man’s land ‘nearby’ was actually a hefty 140km away.

A huge rectangular rusted steel tank used to hold seawater for washing the diamonds and for the ice factory, which also made lemonade. The tank doubled as a swimming pool on the weekends.

​Electricity and ammonia gas at the ice factory cooled the sea water so that ‘forms’ of fresh water immersed in it would freeze. Each house got half a block of ice a day for their ice-boxes. Cooled sea water was continuously pumped through pipes that cooled the butchery’s cool room on the other side of the wall.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
The ice and lemonade factory
Sea water was piped from Elisabeth Bay to be desalinated as a supplement to fresh water brought in barrels from a borehole at Garub 100km to the east. By the 1930s the town brought in about 1000 tons of drinking water a month from Cape Town. It was shipped to Lüderitz then carried by mule train to Kolmanskop and pumped into storage tanks.

Each person was allowed 20 litres of water a day free; if you needed more you had to buy it yourself – at half the price of beer. For the wealthier residents, the water could create small patches of lawn and garden to keep the dust down. To tempt people to work and live here, wages were good and almost everything was free, from company housing to milk deliveries, even the services of a sweeping team to keep the streets from becoming shrouded in drifting sand.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Mule-drawn cart on rails
The town had a taxi on rails pulled by six mules. It carried water in big drums around to all the houses and also delivered bread. You could catch a ride, sitting on one of the little wooden benches. ‘One man could step on to it just outside his house and it would take him directly to his office so he didn’t need to get his shoes filled with sand,’ said Netley.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Bedroom in the museum
​The old general dealer shop is now a museum, with its original massive wooden counter. The ledger shows purchases like caviar, chocolate and camembert cheese, so people here certainly weren’t doing without the luxuries of a civilised life.

‘The shop-owner was one of the richest women in Kolmanskop because if you didn’t have money you could pay her in diamonds,’ said Netley. The shopkeeper’s house alongside is furnished with items that were dug out of the sand from around Kolmanskop. 
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Hospital, school, church
The hospital on the edge of the little settlement could take 200 patients. It had the first x-ray machine in southern Africa, but it was brought here more in case you spiced up your lunch with a few diamonds than for any medical benefit. Two German doctors and four nurses were on hand. Rumour has it that one of the doctors was popular for his habit of prescribing an evening tonic of champagne and caviar sandwiches.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Sunny wing in the hospital
But those days are long gone. What we found was a derelict but still elegant building, with lovely long porches and high arched windows. Sand piled up in the corners of the wards, but sunlight peeped in through rickety ceilings. In places holes in the walls allowed us to see from one room through to the next, making for interesting photos and perspective effects.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
The little school had fewer than 40 kids and the school hall was used for church services twice a month, when pastors used to come from Lüderitz. Although the pianist was Catholic she played for all services, no matter the denomination. But why didn’t they build a church? Apparently they resisted this idea because it would make the settlement ‘permanent’.

The irony of their solidly built houses, hospital and entertainment hall apparently eluded them.

Entertainment hall and skittle alley
In a desert wasteland far from their homes in Germany, the townsfolk would obviously need something to entertain them if they weren’t to get into trouble for the wrong sort of activities that flourished in so many other early diamond towns. Think drunken debauchery, gambling and prostitution, for instance.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
​Cue the entertainment hall, its steel framework prefabricated and imported from Germany. The theatre is still in good condition with the interior paintwork and decorations intact. The acoustics are so fine that visitors today are encouraged to put them to the test by bursting into song.
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Theatre
And don’t think the entertainment was all about Oompah bands. The mine paid for opera companies to be shipped from Europe to perform here, and the hall was used by the local orchestra, theatre group, cinema and gymnastics troop. There’s a skittle alley too, with its original bar and old ice box, its stencilled frieze of skittles. ​
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
This giant coal stove in the old kitchen used to turn out 380 meals a day
A kitchen with a giant coal stove used to prepare 380 meals a day, and ropes hung from the ceiling at each table in the restaurant so you could ring for service. There was a champagne bar for the ladies (no gents allowed in except to pay) and a cigar room for the gents (no ladies allowed). Today a restaurant serving light meals occupies the old champagne bar where we enjoyed good scones and pancakes. 
Kolmanskop, Namibia's ghost town
Present-day coffeeshop
Allow enough time
You can do a 60-minute guided tour at Kolmanskop, Mondays to Saturdays at 9:30 and 11:00, Sundays and public holidays at 10:00. Or you can pay your entrance fee and wander around on your own. We did both and were so engrossed in history, ripples of light and shadow, sand-packed buildings and forgotten dreams that four or five hours were gobbled up before we noticed.

Don’t come in a hurry. You’ll probably only visit once in your life so take some time to go into the buildings, soak up the atmosphere and think about the people who used to live and work here. Try to imagine what it must have been like when children ran and played in this monster sandpit, when women in long dresses enjoyed a show in the theatre or local workers dreamt of keeping just one or two diamonds for themselves, when people laughed and cried and made a life here.

​Did you find the article interesting? Pin this image!
Once a diamond boom town, Kolmanskop in Namibia is now a ghost town where past and present with haunting magnetism.
You may also enjoy
Kolmanskop: why to visit Namibia's ghost town
Luderitz, Namibia: colourful hamlet in a windswept landscape

​Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
4 Comments
Lori Robinson link
23/6/2017 01:18:58 am

Amazing history and great photos Roxanne.

Reply
Roxanne
23/6/2017 11:28:30 am

Thanks for the compliment, Lori, and for reading. I agree it's a fascinating little cameo of history.

Reply
Jenny
25/6/2017 09:25:35 pm

Loved the article. A glimpse back in time. Very interesting.
How far is it from luderitz?

Reply
Roxanne
26/6/2017 07:59:58 am

Thanks, Jenny, glad you enjoyed it. Kolmanskop is about 10km from Luderitz.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Get email links to the latest posts

    Buy my books
    The Essential Guide to Self-Editing, amazon.com e-book
    E-book 2017
    A Walk in the Park, amazon.com e-book
    2nd ed e-book 2015
    Travels in the Kalahari, amazon.com e-book
    E-book 2012​

    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    My travel buddy and husband Keith is the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
    Use this website to discover new places to go, revisit places you've loved, or take a virtual tour of destinations you only dream about.

    Categories

    All
    Baviaanskloof
    Books
    Botswana
    Camping
    Cape Town
    Chobe
    Conservation
    Drc
    Eastern Cape
    Etosha Namibia
    Food
    Free State
    Garden Route
    Gauteng
    Issues
    Kalahari
    Karoo
    Kenya
    Kruger National Park
    Kwazulu Natal
    Lesotho
    Limpopo
    Linyanti
    Malawi
    Mozambique
    Mpumalanga
    Namaqualand
    Namibia
    Nature Parks
    Northern Cape
    Okavango
    Overberg
    People
    Photography
    Richtersveld
    Tanzania
    West Coast
    Western Cape
    Wild Creatures
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009


Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za

Privacy Policy and GDPR compliance
​* We promise that we take data safety seriously and use your private data only to offer a personalised experience
* If you subscribed to our newsletter, you will receive our newsletters. You can always unsubscribe by following the link in email or by emailing us
* If you gave us your name, it will only be used to personalise the newsletters
* We have never sold, we are not selling, and we will not sell any of your personal data provided to us
* The blog uses cookies to track activity. It is anonymous except for telling us your location and what you did on our blog
​
Photo used under Creative Commons from berniedup