Kolmanskop, Namibia
Kolmanskop lies 850km south-west of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and 10km east of the isolated coastal town of Luderitz. Formerly, a train line ran eastwards from the coast at Luderitz to the larger town of Keetmanshoop, where it connected with a northern line to the capital.
In 1908, Zacherias Lewala, a railway employee shoveling drift sand from the tracks, found some interesting stones. He took them to August Stauch, the permanent-way inspector of the line, who was an avid naturalist, and had asked his workers to bring in any unusual objects they found. Mr Stauch, a former employee of De Beers in South Africa, took the stones to Luderitz for an expert opinion. The stones were diamonds.
When the rumors of the discovery, in what was then known as German South-West Africa, reached Cape Town, they were received with incredulity. This inhospitable and desolate region had been offered to the Cape government in 1885 but politely refused. The richest diamond deposits in the world were to be found in this area.
Kolmanskop, Namibia
Kolmanskop lies 850km south-west of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and 10km east of the isolated coastal town of Luderitz. Formerly, a train line ran eastwards from the coast at Luderitz to the larger town of Keetmanshoop, where it connected with a northern line to the capital.
In 1908, Zacherias Lewala, a railway employee shoveling drift sand from the tracks, found some interesting stones. He took them to August Stauch, the permanent-way inspector of the line, who was an avid naturalist, and had asked his workers to bring in any unusual objects they found. Mr Stauch, a former employee of De Beers in South Africa, took the stones to Luderitz for an expert opinion. The stones were diamonds.
When the rumors of the discovery, in what was then known as German South-West Africa, reached Cape Town, they were received with incredulity. This inhospitable and desolate region had been offered to the Cape government in 1885 but politely refused. The richest diamond deposits in the world were to be found in this area.