Günter and Helga Machts

[Leon Sumter]

Hi Gordon
Where are all of these folk residing now, Gabriella Lubowski, Robbie Schuster and Gunter Salchow?

[Michael Alexander]

Both Robbie Shuster and GUnther Salchows SOns live and Work IN Omund......

[Leon Sumter]

Well that's interesting, perhaps when you get see either of these two you might want to ask them if they have any information regarding their parents' association with Kolmanskop.
Regards.

[Gordon Brown]

Leon, Gabi is living in Hout Bay. We get together for a chat over coffee once a month
Best regards
Gordon

[Michael Alexander]

A bit of research, perhaps I should incorporate a Kolmanskuppe section on the revamped site later this year, after all, in a way, it was a catalyst to Oranjemund......

[Cherry (Alcock)]

I think that's a very good idea Mike!

[Leon Sumter]

Kolmanskop (Kolmannskuppe)
In April of 1908, Zacharias Lewala, a worker on the railway line between Luderitz and Aus in what is now southern Namibia, picked up a shiny stone and showed it to his supervisor, August Stauch.  Recognizing the find, Stauch got himself a prospecting license and then presented the stone for verification. State geologist Dr. Range confirmed it was a diamond, and within months the diamond rush was on around the site of Kolmanskop, 10 kilometres inland from the coastal town of Luderitz.

The name Kolmanskuppe, Kolmanskoppe or Kolmanskop is believed to have originated from a transport driver named Johnny Kolman. He transported goods from Keetmanshoop to Luderitzbucht and it was his custom to outspan his oxen and make camp in the vicinity of a low-lying gneiss kopje (Kuppe) or hillock.
In 1905 he was caught in a fierce sandstorm with his ox-wagon span, and his oxen vanished. He was fortunately rescued but the wagon remained abandoned for years. From that time the kopje was known as Kolmanskuppe.



Kolmanskop Signboard

A certain chief veterinarian of the territory was not so lucky. He was trapped in similar circumstances with a companion and they died of thirst. Later when the area was being dug up by diamond seekers, the mummified remains of the veteri¬narian were found.
    In September 1908, the Colonial Government declared a Sperrgebiet or 'forbidden zone' extending 360 km northward to latitude 26S from the Orange River and 100 km inland from the coast and is known today as Diamond Area No.1. in order to control the mining of the diamonds, and in February 1909, a central diamond market was established. This area was accessible only to the Dernburg Company. The proclamation forced  prospectors  to the  north  of Lüderitz  where the discovery of diamonds at Oystercliffs, Saddle Hill and Meob Bay in 1908 led to yet another diamond rush.

Crawling on all fours picking up diamonds in the moonlight.

Early mining method

Slightly more advanced mining method

Early transport methods

Stauch standing next to early screening plant.
The Sperrgebiet was designed to give the government control over the region thought to contain diamonds and accounted for 20% of the worldwide diamond take. In 1909 almost 500,000 carats were produced there, and yields almost tripled in 5 years. The diamonds were small but of high quality.By 1910, more than 500 claims had been registered and the  mining towns Charlottenfelder, Conception Bay, Holstia and Fishersbrun mushroomed deep within the oldest desert in the world, the Namib. Miners lived, prospected, thrived and died amidst the most challenging living conditions and difficult circumstances of the hostile desert environment.
   As the diamond mining progressed to Kolmanskop, a unique little settlement mushroomed in the desert sands. Improvised wooden buildings with corrugated ¬iron cladding, prefabricated in Germany, gave way to solid and astonishingly im¬pressive buildings that contrasted in a bizarre way with their desolate surround¬ings. Amongst them with an air of importance were the double-storeyed homes of manager Hans Hőrlein and mining engineer Leonard Kolle.

Manager Hans Hőrlein's house.
There was a police station (camels were used frequently for their patrols), a post office (opened in February 1909), a general dealer's store, a bakery, butchery, lemonade and soda-water fac¬tory which used the same cooling facilities as the butchery. There was an ice making facility which provided each household daily with a free block of ice which was made in special upright, long and narrow forms. Each morning the ice – vendor came down the streets, which were even then smothered with sand, to deliver the daily ration of ice blocks and cold drinks to each household. There was a large workshop, a huge depot, a carpentry shop, of¬fices and stables. The two deteriorating buildings the large workshop and the depot  were demolished by the CDM in the 1950's and the iron sold to a scrap dealer, while the 'zentrale wäsche' (washeries) were also demolished.

Early Kolmanskop

   There was a primary school (up to standard three) with a play¬ground complete with swings and merry-go-round
. 

School play






Teacher's house





At the top of a sand-dune hill was a reservoir which served a dual purpose. It provided the mining plant with water for the washing and treatment operations and was also used as a swimming pool by the residents of Kolmanskop. Sea-water was pumped through a long pipeline from Elisabethbucht, some 28 kilometres away. A pipeline also served Charlottental. Occasionally there was a leak which was greatly enjoyed by the children, an unexpected shower in the desert.
Drinking water remained a problem. It had to be shipped from Cape Town to Luderitzbucht and then brought by rail to Kolmanskop. It was transported in barrels to the diamond fields. Initially these water barrels were conveyed in wagons, but their wheels got bogged down. The problem was solved with the barrels being pulled along the desert sands by two mules. Fresh water was also obtained from a spring at Garub, about 100 kilometres distant. It was transported in barrels in railway trucks, off -loaded at the depot and pumped into tanks. There was also a simple corrugated-iron recreation centre with a skittle alley.



The Ghost town of Kolmanskop.

Stauch was virtually the king of Kolmanskop where he had established his head¬quarters." He used it as a base and undertook various prospecting expeditions to the south, where he believed he would find the biggest diamonds. Like his col¬leagues, he suffered more from the icy winds in the desert than from the heat in that desert of extremes. He later set up camp in a valley called Märchental (Fairy-tale valley) in the richest part of the Pomona field at Idatal (named after his wife Ida) and this came to be known as Stauchslager. In this valley diamonds were literally picked up by the handful. Kolmanskop remained the headquarters of the CDM (Consolidated Diamond Mines) until 1943 when it moved to Oranjemund. Mining operations ceased there in 1950. The last person left six years later, and Kolmans¬kop became a "ghost town".

In 1910 Stauch's Koloniale Bergbau Gesellschaft decided to erect a central power station at Luderitzbucht to supply electricity to the diamond fields. This ambitious undertaking was initiated by Stauch. A few years later the company floated the Luderitzbuchter Elektrizitats Gesellschaft, with a capital of two million marks, to run the power station. Housing, electricity and fuel were pro¬vided free by the company, which also maintained a well-built hospital. The hospital had one of the finest X-ray plants in Southern Africa. It also possessed its own wine cellar. The wine was moreover used medicinally. One of the two resident doctors believed that patients recovered more speedily if they received some stimulation in the form of a little wine or champagne. Another doctor, an excellent surgeon, had a less exotic conception of health-giving addi¬tives. He encouraged his patients to eat a raw onion daily.

In 1927 a magnificent new recreation centre was built where many functions and forms of entertainment were held. It had perfect acoustics, designed by an expert from Germany. Provision was made for gymnastics and film shows. There was also a large skittle alley a casino and a theatre. The various rooms were painted in different colours with artistic friezes, deriving their names from the colour used. An enor-mous kitchen with a high ceiling had unique features. The stoves stood in the middle of the floor, leaving ample working space all around, and the chimneys were placed under the flooring.

The Kolmanskop Recreation Center


The skittel alley in the Recreation Club


The Theatre inside the Recreation Club

Some 700 families lived in the town, including about 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers. Wages were good and virtually everything was free, including company houses, milk deliveries and other fringe benefits. Large metal screens around the gardens and corners of the houses helped to keep the sand at bay and a sand-clearing squad cleared the streets every day. Many of the professionals in Kolmanskop had lavish homes. One of these homes, the home of the mine manager Hans Hőrlein has been recently refurbished by Namdeb for tourists.
One of the earliest power plants in the region was built to provide electricity for the residents and the mining machinery.

The inhabitants of the diamond settlement as well as the Luderitzbuchters en¬joyed going on picnics over weekends. They travelled by horse-cart or in trolleys on the railroad. One of the most popular outings was to the great rock arch of Bogenfels. Nearby were caves which could be explored at low tide. There was also a miniature Bogenfels in the vicinity. Diamond mining took place at Bogen¬fels between 1910 and 1913, and almost 400 000 carats were recovered. A large condenser supplied the inhabitants with drinking water.
Much of the area is similar to the Luderitzbucht environs with its bleak char¬coal-streaked appearance, blackish dolerite boulders and gneissic rock with quartz veins running through the granite. Mainly metamorphic, it looks as if there had once been violent volcanic activity. Scattered around are incongruous ,green blobs of shrubs interspersed with patterned sand dunes.
Sometimes the men went on jaunts to catch crayfish, such as in the small bay of Jammerbucht, near Pomona. The crayfish were either grilled on the fire or boil¬ed in sea-water. There was an abundance of black mussels at Grosse Bucht and a colony of seals at Wolf's Bucht with jackals slinking in their midst, sly opportunists.
A popular outing was to a hotel at Elisabethbucht with the romantic name Wüsten Konig - desert king. Board and lodging there was ten marks, and hot meals were always available. Horses could be hired for five marks a day.
At Prinzenbucht where there were landing facilities for boats from steamers, an enterprising Mr H. Kabilenski sold water from a sea-water condenser, as well as horse fodder. Prinzenbucht was actually the source of supply for Bogenfels via Pomona.
There were daily trips from Luderitzbucht to Griffith Bay where one could obtain meals, liquor and have a game of skittles. Another attraction was Radford Bay and its lagoons with flamingoes strutting on long slender legs and rising in a cloud of pink indignation when disturbed.
One had to be lucky with the weather. It was almost always windy, blowing either hot or cold, and sand-storms caused mishaps. The storms were at their worst at Pomona where the wind was particularly strong, sometimes lasting several weeks.
The extreme wealth of Kolmanskop during the 1920s made it one of the richest communities in Africa. Despite the wealth of the 300 Germans, 800 Oshiwambo labourers did not share in the riches. Clearly the racist colonial government, who orchestrated a genocide against the Herero of eastern Namibia, were not interested in sharing the wealth with the indigenous people of the region.
In the early days, in the nearby Itadel Valley, stones were so accessible that prospectors with no mining equipment would crawl on their hands and knees in full moonlight collecting the glittering stone.
Stauch showed inspiration and tremendous energy in procuring mining claims. But he wisely obtained the services of qualified experts for the actual management and supervision of the mining developments. In charge was an engineer, Baumeister Hans Hőrlein, an honourable man of exceptional ability. Later, Hőrlein with the takeover by the CDM, he continued in his capacity as manager for many years. He used to travel on horseback once a month to Oranjemund. He was re¬sponsible for the planning and buildings at Elisabethbucht which developed into a min¬ing town. Finally he retired to his farm Eirup, some 80 kilometres from Mariental, bordering the Kalahari.
Stauch brought out from Germany another very efficient engineer, Leonhard Kolle, who became "second in command". His two sons were brought up at Kolmanskop where the family stayed until 1935, when he was transferred by the CDM to Oranjemund.
The first technical director was the Bergassessor (mining engineer), Kurt Pasel, a most conscientious worker. Others who became well-known on the dia¬mond fields were the mining engineer Max Schiechel, who devised the so-called Schiechel jig for diamond mining and Georg Glockemeier who later improved this invention. Then there were the geologists, Dr Lotz, Dr Erich Kaiser and Dr Werner Beetz. The two latter established boreholes in the desert which resulted in a great saving of costs with regard to drinkable water, since water from the con¬densers was very expensive.
In the early days, in the nearby Itadel Valley, stones were so accessible that prospectors with no mining equipment would crawl on their hands and knees in full moonlight collecting the glittering stone.
South Africa gained control of Namibia after World War I (1920) and sold the diamond deposits to Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM), which was transferred to De Beers (predecessor to Namdeb) in 1929.
In 1928, the discovery of Namibia's vast marine-terrace diamond reserves, just north of the mouth to the Orange River, slowed production in the north.
The general exodus to Oranjemund began and many of the original prefabricated wooden houses were dismantled and reassembled again in Oranjemund.
Kolmanskop remained the headquarters of CDM until it 1943 when it moved to Oranjemund. Mining operations ceased there in 1950.
By 1956 the town of Kolmanskop was deserted and replaced by Oranjemund as Namibia's diamond headquarters the beginning of the end started.
Soon the metal screens collapsed and the pretty gardens and tidy streets were buried under the sand. Doors and windows creaked on their hinges, cracked window panes stared sightlessly across the desert. A new ghost town had been born.
So within 40 years the town was born, flourished and then died. One day Kolmanskop's sand-clearing squad failed to turn up, the ice-man stayed away, the school bell rang no more.
The man who started it all, August Stauch ironically lost his entire fortune during the depression and died of cancer on May 6 1947 in a hospital at Eisenach not far from his birthplace Ettenhausen. He was 69 years old at the time.


Acknowledgements:

'Diamonds in the desert' by Olga Levinson ISBN 0 624 01921 7      1983
'Discover Namibia' by Michael Brittean. ISBN 0 86977 121 3           1979
Various Websites on Kolmanskop (Kolmannskuppe)

[Leon Sumter]

Kolmanskop photographs

[Leon Sumter]

Gordon when you see Gaby again perhaps you could ask her about Kolmanskop.

[Leon Sumter]

Some more Kolmanskop photographs

[SandyB]

Good  reading .. thanks Leon ,,,   

[DUNJA WRBKA]

Thank you Leon, I most certainly enjoyed reading your posting on Kolmanskop 

[Gordon Brown]

Terrific stuff Leon. Keep it coming. Agree with Mike we should open up a site dealing with articles relating to the history of the area and diamond mining in particular. Best regards, Gordon. Will speak to Gabi about historical info on Luderitz/Kolmanskop area where she lived as a child next time we meet.

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

My contribution to Kolmanns in my Homepage

http://www.dersofaladen.de/georg/html/kolmannskop.html

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

When you get to do that let me know I've got tons of photo's of that area dating back to the early 1920"s