Namibia 🇳🇦 Ghost Town Kolmanskop (German: Kolmannskuppe)

Kolmanskop (German: Kolmannskuppe), an abandoned diamond "ghost" town outside Luderitz in Namibia. Alongside Sossusvlei and Etosha, it's one of the most popular attractions in the country, with tourists and locals alike.
Founded in 1908 after railway worker, Zacharias Lewala found a diamond while working his shift and showed it to his supervisor, German railway inspector August Stauch, who recognised the shiny stone for what it was. Pretty soon the area was inundated with fortune seekers, and by 1912, Kolmanskop was one of the wealthiest towns in Southern Africa, producing 12% of the worlds diamonds, one of the largest single producers at the time.
By the 1920's the diamonds had already started to run out and the fortune seekers headed south to Oranjemund, where richer deposits of diamonds had been discovered. By the mid 1950's the town, with it's mansions, theatre, power station and a fully equipped hospital, was abandoned for the desert sands to reclaim.
Nowadays it's being slowly reclaimed by the desert sands and what an incredible experience to walk the deserted corridors and streets, imagining the lives that were lived here, for such a brief period, and in such a desolate and inhospitable place.
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I’m Chris Corbet, an overlanding, adventure & road trip fanatic and video creator with a passion for nature & wildlife conservation. My motto is "live your adventure". After many years in the digital marketing space, I opted out of corporate life and embraced an overland road tripping and adventure lifestyle instead.
I'm currently embarked on a 2 year long mission, Project #60460, to visit 60 of the most unique places in southern and east Africa to mark my 60th year on this, the only planet that we have. The journey is in support of 3 of Africa's big cats: the Lion, Leopard & Cheetah. I'll be sharing the adventure with weekly videos and daily updates in stories, the community tab and shorts.
Join me on this epic overland road trip and help support these incredible predators. You can help keep the journey going by supporting me on Patreon, AND by doing so you'll be contributing to the conservation of these incredible apex predators: / kangelalife .
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Available for collaborations: [e-mail]
"Live each day as if it’s your last, because someday it will be!" ~ Muhammad Ali
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[@gerhardwindisch2998]

Thank you, brings back memories. My Great-grandfather was a bricklayer and builder at Kolmanskoppe during the late 1910 and early 1920. My grandfather went to school in Kolmanskoppe and then as an apprentice with CDM.

[@Kangela]

That's awesome to hear Gerhard. My wife's great grandfather was an electrician at Kolmanskop, I don't know the exact dates but he very possibly knew your own great grandfather. How cool is that?

[@budgetoverlander682]

Kolmanskop is on our to-do list! Thanks for the informative video.

[@Kangela]

Thanks so much for the comment Rick, and I really appreciate the follow as well. Hopefully we shall meet up in the bush one day and share stories 👍