View of Ballroom from the Old School corridor.

Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Namibia.

By Jayne Haywood.

Between 1905 and 1907, a 200-kilometre railway from Aus to Luderitz was constructed using 2014 prisoners from Shark Island concentration camp.One worker Zacharias lewala handed his foreman and unusual shiny stone that he found and it was confirmed that it was later confirmed to be a diamond, sparking diamond frenzy.

Within two years Kolmanskop mining town was completed with everything needed for it’s inhabitancy, including houses, schools, hospital and leisure facilities. It is hard to imagine that in the African desert more than one hundred years ago there was a theatre, casino, gym, swimming pool, film shows and a skittle alley.

More than 700 families lived in the town made up of 300 Germans adults, 40 children and 800 native Ovambo contract workers. Between them, the residents were responsible for extracting 1,00 carats a day and more than 100 kg before the First World War.

Following the discovery of bigger and better diamonds in nearby Elizabeth Bay, Kolmanskop was left to deteriorate in to a ghost town with the last families leaving in 1954.

In 1980, De Beers Mining Company restored some of the buildings and established a museum with restricted visiting hours. The museum, which is still open today, is being devoured by the desert sand and may ultimately disappear. Windhoek to Luderitz train track

Railway line from Kolmanskop to Windhoek Workers house

Quartermasters house