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Kolmanskop is situated in the Sperrgebiet about 10 km inland from Luderitz. It was named after Johny Coleman, who lived in the tiny settlement of Aus.
He ran his small transport business in the area. During a sandstorm he abandoned his ox wagon but survived himself. This gave rise to the name Colemanshuegel, which eventually became Kolmanskop.
In 1908 while building the railway line, it was extremely cold. The supervisors, amongst other, August Stauch asked the workers to collect firewood for the camp fire.
While collecting wood, Zacharias Lewala found a diamond. He identified it from his days as a mine worker in the Kimberly mines in South Africa.
He took it to his boss, August Stauch who did not believe him. To cut a long story short, once this was confirmed, the news sparked a frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to come to Kolmanskop.
It soon became a bustling little centre, which featured butchery, bakery, furniture factory, soda water and lemonade plant, four skittle alleys, a public playground and even a swimming pool. The town’s development reached its height in the 1920s. The population grew to around 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers.
Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists for whom large, elegant houses were built.
The hospital boasted Southern Africa’s first X-ray machine. The hospital is still intact although the x-ray unit is not on the premises.
When richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, operations were moved to Oranjemund.
The stately homes, their grandeur now scoured and demolished by the wind are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand.
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