Kolmanskuppe Tree and Church!

[Alfred Boehme]

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[SandyB]

Wonderful pics and  history .......

[henniek]

Alfred - nice photo's of kolmans - ref to your picture named POMONA BOEK 99. Any chance of getting a clearer scan ?

[Skinny]

Two years ago we visited the old EBay houses, the ones right on the sea. There was a house with a beautiful mural painted on the wall of one the houses, with palm trees, coconuts, flowers and sea scenes. Apparently the young single men would have their photos taken in front of the mural, send the picture to a proaspective bride and show what a beautiful area that they live in.  This would entice the young german woman to come out to Luderitz then get married. Once they arrived on the ship in their heavy wollen clothes and trunks, they could not go back as the ship had sailed and the next one was in 3 months or so. Apparently many a single bride was fooled by the mural. Don't know if it was true, but the story is a good one and sounds very plausable.

[Alfred Boehme]

Two years ago we visited the old EBay houses, the ones right on the sea. There was a house with a beautiful mural painted on the wall of one the houses, with palm trees, coconuts, flowers and sea scenes. Apparently the young single men would have their photos taken in front of the mural, send the picture to a proaspective bride and show what a beautiful area that they live in.  This would entice the young german woman to come out to Luderitz then get married. Once they arrived on the ship in their heavy wollen clothes and trunks, they could not go back as the ship had sailed and the next one was in 3 months or so. Apparently many a single bride was fooled by the mural. Don't know if it was true, but the story is a good one and sounds very plausable.

I have heard the same story and here is a photo of the house you refering to

[Skinny]

  Thank you for the photo. Although faded, you can see why they could attract the young bride.

[Leon Sumter]

Marianne mentions that her mother was fond of potted plants , and they had what she called "an indoor garden " sort of a enclosed sun room / porch that her husband added for her plants .

Hi Hennie. I think you have left this section out in your comments by Marianne.

Does Marianne mention anywhere if and when her family moved from Pomona to Kolmanskop?

[henniek]

Sorry - I have been offline for a few days , due to Telkom problems. Just been restored late afternoon  . Leon , I will cary on with my comments re Marianne tomorrow .

[Andrew Darné]

To add to the names... 2nd from left, Dr Paul Range, the Colonial Administration Geologist.

[henniek]

Skinny , My version of the palm trees story . I heard from a certain Mr Ziegried Mans. Apparantly the husband to be had a good idea to convince his fiance in Germany that E bay was not a bad place to live in  . All she knew about Africa was what the misionarries had to say - And that was all stories about big rivers invested  with crocodiles and woods where canibals lived . the other bit she knew is that E bay was close to the sea. And according to her knowledge , there were always palm trees near the seaside. But the idea of living in savage Africa scared her  . The husband to be , who then already secured a house for them to live in  , had the mural painted , took a photograph and sent it off - saying to her that it is the view from the bed  ! according to Zieggie , they were one happy couple

[Leon Sumter]

Hennie check this article with photos. It must be Mariannes Pomona home with some visitors in a car.  http://www.namibianresources.com/history.html

[henniek]

Marianne:- " The powerstation , as far as I knew , was the biggest in both SWA and South Africa. Appart from feeding Luderitz , and Kolmans the current was also fed to all the other mining plants further away . as well as the electric railway cars. This powerstation was also one of only two in the world that distiled water from the sea . the other powerstation was in Aden Germany . We also used fresh water which was braught in torpedo tankers from Garub about a 100 km away  . This water was stored in tanks beneath the floor of the mine magazine . from there it was pumped into tanks on the hill, from wich it flowed downhill to the houses . We had a seawater swimmingpool . the water was pumped from Elizabeth bay . It was just a square dam of even depth . over this 2 meters deep pool , across this pool we had ropes strung , where people could hold on to. the overflow water was used on the plant and for cleaning purposes  . there were bathing huts around the pool , birthday parties were held there , and on sundays , wheather permitting , the band played and we all had a jolly time ."

[henniek]

Leon .. Remarkable ! - it is the same house with the quiver trees - Take a look at this Photo about 1920 , and  my blue photo - 30 years ago and the recent one of Malcolm . note how little the tree has grown over the approx 90 years

[Leon Sumter]

Definitely the same identical house. The gable is identical, the front enclosed stoep is identical. The quiver tree (one of 4 originally) is still there to this day. The article mistakenly quotes the house as being in Luderitz. Strange that only one of the original four Quiver trees has survived for almost 90 years. This must be Marianne Coleman's childhood house. There are no other houses like this in Pomona.All the facts seem to indicate this.

[Leon Sumter]

The power station that Marianne speaks about. Is this the power station that was in Kolmans. Does the building still exist in KM?
Tell by the way is there a map of Kolmans that identifies all the various buildings?