Nidingen is a Swedish

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

sea area

skerry A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They a ...

with a lighthouse station. It is located in

Onsala Onsala () is a locality situated in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 11,951 inhabitants in 2010. It is also a 14 km long peninsula on the west coast of Sweden, facing Kattegat, south of Gothenburg. It dates back to t ...

parish in

Kungsbacka Municipality Kungsbacka () (old da, Kongsbakke) is a locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the most affluent parts of Sweden, in part due to its simultaneous proximity to the ...

in the province (landskap) of

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...

. The island has with its surrounding reefs always posed a danger to shipping. The three lighthouses on the island, one of which is active, is today protected as heritage buildings. The island is also a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

with a

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

station and

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

, famous for large populations of different bird species. The province of Halland and Nidingen was ruled by Denmark until the Second Treaty of Brömsebro 1645. The Danes had lit primitive navigation fires on the island before, and also built a "

vippefyr A ''vippefyr'' or bascule light or tipping lantern was a type of small navigational aid popular in Denmark in the 18th century and before. It consisted of a basket in which wood or coal was set; this was then burned. The basket was affixed to a ...

", but now it became one of Sweden's earliest light stations. In the 18th century, the vippefyr was replaced by fires placed on stone

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s, which in turn were replaced by two new stone towers in 1834. They were built even higher in 1847 and were equipped with lanterns and

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 ...

es. In 1884, the

colza oil Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...

lamps were replaced by kerosene lamps with improved luminosity. The historic lighthouses was in use until 1946 when a new modern tower was completed. The lighthouse was electrified through a connection with cable from the mainland. In the 1960s, the lighthouse's lens equipment was electrified. In 1973, an automatic rotation of the lens was installed around the clock while the lighting of the lamps was controlled by photocells. From the turn of the year 1978–79, Nidingen lighthouse became fully automated and unmanned. It was reported several times in the 2000s that the lighthouse could be deactivated when it was no longer considered necessary for shipping, but it remained in use. In 2019 it was reported that the Swedish Maritime Administration, Sjöfartsverket, plans to convert it to be powered by solar cells.https://norrahalland.se/solceller-ska-driva-nidingen/ (Swedish) Wind observations from Nidingen is reported daily in

SMHI The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute ( sv, Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut, abbreviated SMHI) is a Government agency in Sweden and operates under the Ministry of the Environment. SMHI has expertise within the ...

Shipping Forecasts.

References

External links

fyr.org (in Swedish)
* {{Authority control , additional=Q28375982,Q37800916 Lighthouses in Sweden