Christiansø Lighthouse ( da, Christiansø Fyr) is located on the top of the Store Tårn tower on the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

island of

Christiansø Ertholmene (formerly spelled ''Ærtholmene)'' is a small archipelago in Denmark. The largest island is Christiansø, and its name often refers to the entire archipelago. Ertholmene is situated northeast of Gudhjem, Bornholm, and contains De ...

, some northeast of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. Constructed and brought into service in 1805, it is one of Denmark's oldest.

History

The lighthouse was designed by

Poul de Løvenørn Poul de Løvenørn (1751–1826) was a Danish naval officer and cartographer, scientist, administrator and diplomat. Personal life Poul de Løvenørn was the grandson of Poul Vendelbo Løvenørn and the son of . His mother was Frederikke née Ho ...

(1751–1826) in 1798. It was the first lighthouse in Denmark to have a flashing light, apparently inspired by the Swedish lighthouse at

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histori ...

, completed in 1781, the first in the world with a flashing light. In 1798, Løvenørn was authorized to go ahead with his project which consisted of building the lighthouse on the top of the existing tower known as Store Tårn. As a result of various delays, it was not until 1 October 1805 that the lighthouse with a height of was brought into service."Christiansø"
''Danske fyrtårne''. Retrieved 3 November 2012 Christiansoe

Technical details

The lighthouse consisted of nine parabolic gilded copper mirrors with a diameter of 4 ft, divided into three groups with a four-wick

oil burner An oil burner is a heating device which burns #1, #2 and #6 heating oils, diesel fuel or other similar fuels. In the United States ultra low #2 diesel is the common fuel used. It is dyed red to show that it is road-tax exempt. In most markets ...

located in the focal point of each group. Each group was mounted on a horizontal wooden arm projecting from a vertical axel driven by clockwork. The lamps were rotated by clockwork adjusted so that there were three flashes a minute. The oil lamps remained in operation until 1879 when a lens system with a four-wick burner was introduced. In 1904, the burner was replaced by a

paraffin lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...

. In 1973, the

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

from the decommissioned Hyllekrog Lighthouse was installed.

Structure

With a height of , the white-painted round tower with a greenish lantern and gallery stands on the top of the granite Store Tårn fortification. With a range of 18

nautical miles A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today t ...

, the light flashes once every five seconds."Lighthouse Christiansø"
Leuchtturmseiten.de. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christianso Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1805 Towers completed in 1805 Bornholm Lighthouses in Denmark 1805 establishments in Denmark

History

Technical details

Structure

See also

References