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Unusual stone - In 1908, Zacharias Lewala, a railway worker helping build the line between Lüderitz and Aus, saw a particularly shiny stone in the sand.

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Mining town - He picked it up and showed it to his supervisor, August Stauch. It was, of course, a diamond.

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Diamonds - Stauch quickly applied for a prospector’s license and inspectors confirmed that he had found the first diamond in the region.

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German colony - Located 10 km inland from the port town of Lüderitz, Kolmanskop was located in what was then known as German South West Africa, now Namibia.

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Abundance - The area was so rich in diamonds that workers could just get down on their knees with jars and pick up the minerals.

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Town's name - The town is called Kolmanskop in Afrikaans and Kolmannskuppe in German, both of which can be translated as "Coleman's head."

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Coleman's head - The village was named after Johnny Coleman, an ox-cart rider who abandoned his cart nearby during a sandstorm.

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'Sperrgebiet' - Upon hearing about the discovery of diamonds, German officials took an interest in the area and the government declared the place a “Sperrgebiet,” or restricted area.

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Diamond rush - In no time at all, workers flocked to the area in the hopes of making a fortune. The town quickly flourished.

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Heyday - Inspired by German culture and architecture, the town was soon bustling with life, including butchers, bakers, an ice factory, a post office, bars, a bowling alley, a concert hall, and a hospital that boasted the first x-ray machine south of the equator.

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Mansions - The village even contained huge mansions that were built on the sand dunes for the senior mine officials.

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Water - Water supply is bound to be an issue in the desert. Usually, water had to be shipped from Cape Town to Lüderitz and then brought to Kolmanskop by mules.

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Population - Albeit rich, the village was small. At its peak, Kolmanskop was home to about 700 families.

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Mining companies - Throughout the first decade, small mining companies operated in the area.

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Production - By 1912, Kolmanskop was responsible for 12% of the world’s total diamond production. Between 1908 and the start of World War I in 1914, about one ton of diamonds had been extracted from the village's sands.

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CDM - After World War I, German entrepreneur Ernest Oppenheimer established the Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) and absorbed the smaller companies.

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World War I - The war took a toll on production. The price of diamonds considerably dropped and families began to move out in search of greener pastures, so to speak.

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Larger diamonds - Additionally, rich diamond fields that proved to have larger specimens were discovered in Oranjemund, south of Kolmanskop.

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Decline - By the 1930s, the village was already experiencing considerable decline.

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Last villagers - Kolmanskop's last residents left in 1956 but operations had already stopped a few years earlier.

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Ghost town - Today, Kolmanskop is a ghost town—one of its main and remarkable features is how quickly it's being reclaimed by the desert.

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Sand-filled - Sand reaches the roofs in some of the derelict buildings. Imagine how hard it must have been to keep the houses dusted!

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Visiting - Tourists seeking to visit these houses can do so, but independent visitors are not allowed.

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Tour -

Visitors must join a guided tour because of its location within a restricted area. Tours usually leave in the morning and information is available in both English and German.

See also: Things you should never do in Russia

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