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The Scharhörnbake was the most important
The main function of the daymark was to aid navigation for ships around the feared ''Scharhörn Reef ''into the Elbe coming from the North Sea. Many ships wrecked at this dangerous passage. As Hamburg depended most on this, it maintained
The Scharhörnbake was the most important daymark
A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight.
The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to a ...
on the German North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
coast for several centuries. First erected in 1661 by the City of Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, postal ...
on the sandbank Scharhörn
Scharhörn is an uninhabited island in the North Sea belonging to the city of Hamburg, Germany. The once most important daymark on the North Sea coast, the Scharhörnbake, was maintained here by the City of Hamburg from 1440 to 1979.
Geogra ...
and south side of the Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
estuary, it was rebuilt over centuries and taken down finally in 1979. Equipped with a room, it also functioned as a refuge beacon for shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
survivors from 1840 to 1965.Manfred Temme: ''Vogelfreistätte Scharhörn'', Verein Jordsand, 1967 The only remaining element today is the boulder stone foundation near Nigehörn
Nigehörn is an uninhabited artificial island in the North Sea belonging to the German city of Hamburg.
Geography
Located by the mouth of the Elbe, Nigehörn lies on the same sandbank as Scharhörn, about northwest of Neuwerk and northwest fr ...
.
With a height of 29.10 meters (95'6"), it was the highest daymark from 1898 until 23 December 1914 on the North Sea coast.
Often destroyed by storms, it was also taken down in wartime to make navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
harder for enemy ships.
Function
The main function of the daymark was to aid navigation for ships around the feared ''Scharhörn Reef ''into the Elbe coming from the North Sea. Many ships wrecked at this dangerous passage. As Hamburg depended most on this, it maintained sea mark
A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage that identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard, or administrative area to allow boats, ships, and seaplanes to navigate safely.
Th ...
s around the reefs and the routes via the Südergatt und Nordergatt starting 1440. Coming from the sea the first and most important on starboard
Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front).
Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
was the ''Rothe Ton''. The bearing to the Great Tower Neuwerk
The Great Tower Neuwerk is the most significant building of the Neuwerk island, belonging to Hamburg. Completed in 1310, the structure is one of the oldest worldwide that was used as lighthouse (1814–2014) and still standing. This former beacon, ...
via the Scharhörnbake was essential to spot is beacon (see red line).
Further bearings using the Great Tower Neuwerk were:
* the ''Nordbake'' to obscure the Blüse Neuwerk and later the (small) Lighthouse Neuwerk to spot the ''Scharton'' (before the Vogelsand, blue line) and
* the ''Werkbalger Bake'' to spot the ''Butterton'' (after the Vogelsand, green Linie).
Considering the cost and effort to build and maintain the Scharhörnbake as the highest daymark and the Great Tower Neuwerk as the oldest "sea tower" underlines the importance of the Elbe estuary to the city and state of Hamburg.
The room for refugees was added around 1840. The emergency provisions were routinely refreshed. As the sandbank Scharhön grew into an island by plantations, this function was made obsolete by the first shacks starting 1929.
Appearance
Form and position varied with each reconstruction. At first, it was a wooden structure combining a pyramid and a square. It was not until the mid 19th century that it appeared in its striking form consisting of two diamonds above each other.See also
*List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Germany
This is a list of lighthouses in Germany.
List
See also
* Lists of lighthouses and lightvessels
References
External links
*
{{Lighthouses in Europe
Germany
Lighthouses
Lighthouses
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharhornbake Buildings and structures completed in 1661 Water transport infrastructure