Many people are drawn to broken, abandoned cities and haunted houses. So am I! For years I have wanted to visit this one place I just had to see for myself: The German ghost town, abandoned and almost swallowed by the Namibian desert.
Kolmanskop is located only ten kilometers outside Lüderitz in southern Namibia – a desert town with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the desert on the other. It was founded in 1908 when a railway worker found a shiny stone along the tracks. When it was confirmed it was a diamond, the first mining company was established. Diamonds were found in large numbers and Kolmanskop became rich very fast. It is said that one could sit on the sand and pick diamonds in the moonlight!
The place has a ghostly atmosphere. I did visit the place twice. Once in the afternoon on a guided tour. Next visit was early in the morning before the tour groups. There were no cars. No busses, no people and very quiet. I thought I was alone. On my way into a house filled with sand I met a man on his way out. We both jumped! Just like me, he thought he was all alone.
More or less, all the houses have broken windows, collapsed walls, missing doors. When the people moved away, they left many of their belongings behind. There are still furniture, kettles, cans with food and some inventory as a reminder of the people who once lived here. That made me feel as an intruder. As if I entered a private house. I almost expected to see someone enter the room....
The people who lived here had it's own bowling alley, casino, theatre, hospital, stores etc. because of the diamonds. But it didn't last. When richer diamond fields were found further south, the people simply left their houses and most of their possessions to be swallowed by the desert. By the year 1956 the last person had left town. This town is a reminder of what time can do to a place when left untouced for year. An amaxing surreal experience.
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