The Ghost Town of Kolmanskop

Photograph by Chris Gray


In this fantastic shot by Chris Gray, we see insides of an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia overtaken by sand.

Kolmanskop is a ghost town in the Namib desert in southern Namibia, a few kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was once a small but very rich mining village that is now a popular tourist destination. Driven by the enormous wealth of the first German diamond miners, the residents built the village in the architectural style of a German town, with amenities and institutions including a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, skittle-alley, theater and sport-hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray-station in the southern hemisphere.

The town declined after World War I when the diamond-field slowly exhausted and was ultimately abandoned in 1954. For those wanting to visit, a permit is required to enter the town as it is located within a restricted area of the Namib desert. [Source: Wikipedia]


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