The Low Light of the Hook of Holland (''Lage licht van Hoek van Holland'') is a lighthouse that once stood at the

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

, but has since been dismantled and reassembled near the Rotterdam maritime museum.

Origin

An octagonal brick tower in height was built on the site of the low light in 1893, with a higher tower behind it. It was designed by A.C. van Loon. Coming from the sea, the low light would be seen first, then the high light behind it. When the two were aligned vertically the ship was on the correct course to sail the

Nieuwe Waterweg The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg conn ...

(New Waterway) leading to the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List o ...

. However, it was soon obvious that the low light was too low, and it was replaced by a round

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

tower, the last cast iron lighthouse to be built in the Netherlands.

History

The red cast iron tower was built in 1899 by Penn & Bauduin of

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

. It is made of many cast iron components bolted together. There are four floors and 42 steps. At first the tower had a 2,000

candlepower Candlepower (abbreviated as cp or CP) is a unit of measurement for luminous intensity. It expresses levels of light intensity relative to the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents. The historical candlepower is equal to 0.981 ...

(1962

candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to ...

)

gas light ''Gas Light'' is a 1938 thriller play, set in the Victorian era, written by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving h ...

. In 1913 this was replaced by a 12,000 candlepower gas light. In 1921 the light was replaced by a 20,000 candlepower electric light. In 1967 the light was turned off and the tower painted grey. The construction of

Europoort Europoort (, en, Eurogate, also "Europort") is an area of the Port of Rotterdam and the adjoining industrial area in the Netherlands. Being situated at Southside of the mouth of the rivers Rhine and Meuse with the hinterland consisting of the ...

had extended the shore line, and the two lights were now too far from the waterway entrance. A temporary arrangement of spotlights on a scaffold was erected, and in 1974 nine modern concrete lighthouses replaced the old coastal lights. In 1977 the tower was transported in two parts from Leuvehaven to Rotterdam, and in 1990 it was erected in the Maritime museum in Rotterdam. It was repainted to its original reddish-brown color. A similar tower to the old low light used to stand in

Kijkduin Kijkduin en Ockenburgh is a Dutch subdistrict of the Loosduinen district in The Hague. The subdistrict is located in the western part of The Hague at the municipal border of Monster. The area is bordered by the North Sea, an imaginary line betwe ...

. In 2004 this tower was transported by

Chinook helicopter The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Ch ...

to the original site of the old low light. In 2006 a petition to return the old low light to its original site gained 2,000 signatures.

Gallery

File:Rotterdam - Havenmuseum vuurtoren bij nacht.jpg, At night - 2008 File:WLANL - Quistnix! - Havenmuseum - Blik op de kade vanaf het Maritiem Museum bij nacht.jpg, Harbor Museum at night File:Rotterdam vuurtoorn.jpg, 2008 File:WLANL - Quistnix! - Havenmuseum - Vuurtoren 'Het Lage Licht'.jpg, Light - 2009 File:WLANL - Quistnix! - Havenmuseum - Vuurtoren 'Het Lage Licht', door tandwiel Deauville walkraan.jpg, 2009

References

Citations Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hook of Holland Lighthouses completed in 1899 Lighthouses in South Holland 1899 establishments in the Netherlands Low Light