It was founded at the beginning of the 20th century when diamonds were found in the area. It was a small but extremely rich village, with beautiful mansions and a state of the art infrastructure.
Once it was no longer profitable to extract diamonds – new and more profitable mines were found in South Africa – Kolmanskop was completely abandoned. Its inhabitants left, leaving most of their possessions behind.
It’s an extremely eerie place to visit, especially as the German colonial-style buildings look completely at odds with the desert.
There is a house by the river that is believed to be haunted and closed for many years after the sudden death of a newly-married girl.
It is believed that she was poisoned by her in-laws due to family concerns. She was not able to save and protect herself from the furious attack. After her death, the people moved out of the house, and it has remained closed for almost 10 years.
There is a small passage to reach the haunted house. As you get closer to the house, the locals can hear the crying sounds of a girl during the night.