The Pilsum Lighthouse (german: Pilsumer Leuchtturm) was built in 1891 as a
sector light
A sector light is a man-made pilotage and position fixing aid that consists of strictly delineated horizontal angle light beams to guide water-borne traffic through a safe channel at night in reasonable visibility. Sector lights are most often ...
for the
Emshörn channel on Germany's North Sea coast.
It is located on a
dyke near the village of
Pilsum in the municipality of
Krummhörn
Krummhörn is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...
.
It guided ships through the narrow channel until 1915.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, its light was extinguished so that enemy ships could not navigate the route.
After that, it was no longer needed, because the channel was changed.
The height of the structure is 11 metres;
the height of the light about sea level is 15 metres. Today, the tower is one of the best-known symbols of
East Frisia.
Film
The tower grew in popularity as a result of the film ' by comedian
Otto Waalkes
Otto Gerhard Waalkes (born 22 July 1948) is a German comedian, actor, and musician. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and films. His best known trademark are the 'Ottifanten' ('Ottiphants'), elephant-like c ...
.
In the film Otto lives in the lighthouse. Although the lighthouse is one of the central scenes in ''Otto: The Alien from East Frisia'', for some reason the picture used on cinema advertisements and later on the inlays of the video and DVD editions was of the
Westerheversand Lighthouse, not the Pilsum Lighthouse.
See also
*
List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Germany
References
External links
Pilsum Lighthouse
Information and photos of Pilsum Lighthouse at ''www.leuchtturm-welt.de''
Lighthouses completed in 1891
Lighthouses in Lower Saxony
East Frisia
1891 establishments in Germany
Buildings and structures in Aurich (district)
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