The Amrum Lighthouse is located in the southern part of the German island of Amrum, approximately 2 kilometres west of the village of

Wittdün Wittdün (Öömrang: ''Witjdün'', da, Vitdyn) is a municipality on the island of Amrum in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. History Unlike the other villages of Amrum, Wittdün is a relatively young settlement. It ...

, yet still adhering to the municipality of Nebel. Its name in German is ''Seefeuer Amrum''. The

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

is one of the island's landmarks, being open to the public during the summer season.

Data

The

focal plane In Gaussian optics, the cardinal points consist of three pairs of points located on the optical axis of a rotationally symmetric, focal, optical system. These are the '' focal points'', the principal points, and the nodal points. For ''ideal'' ...

height of the lightsource measures 63 metres above mean sea level and thereby it is one of the highest lights along the German North Sea shore. The tower itself is 41.8 metres tall, which makes its top reach 67.4 metres above msl. The range of the white sector amounts to 23.3

nautical mile 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 ...

s. The lens is made up of 16 panels of converging lenses. The light character is "Fl, 7.5s", i.e. a single flashing light with an interval of 7.5 seconds. A 230 V/250 V halogen metal vapour lamp is used as lantern.

History

An article on the loss of three vessels around the islands of Amrum and Sylt, published in the ''Hamburger Zeitung'' in 1868, sparked a controversial debate among experts about where to build a lighthouse in the area. In 1872 it was decided that a lighthouse be built atop a 25 metres high dune on Amrum. Constructions were taken up in 1873 but turned into an obstacle course for all those involved.

Construction and activation

After five weeks only, the construction works had to be halted when the granite stones for the spiral stairs were missing. When the shipment arrived, a number of workers went on strike and refused to set foot on the "dull" island. Yet the remaining workers and some additional auxiliary hands were able to finish the brick building until November 1874, and to install the first order Fresnel lens with its Argand lamp of five wicks. The lens had been displayed at the Paris Exposition in 1867. Also, a dwelling house was built below the dune to host three lighthouse keepers. The "Amrum Wittdün Lighthouse" (''Leuchtfeuer Amrum Wittdün'') was officially activated on 1 January 1875, shortly before sunset. It was the first German lighthouse to be erected in

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; da, Nordfrisland; frr, Nordfraschlönj ), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the exception o ...

. In 1936, the lantern was electrified and only in 1952 the lighthouse received its red and white marking. The last keeper left the lighthouse in 1984 when the facility had become automated.

The optic

The 2.7 metres tall optic with a weight of 2.9 tonnes is extremely precious. Its current value is put at five million Euro. Some parts have – compared to today's standards – extremely high durability. For example, a ball-bearing which carried the entire optic had to be changed only in 1993, 118 years after the lighthouse's activation.

In popular culture

Amrum Lighthouse was featured on two German stamps by Deutsche Post in 2005 and 2008.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1874 Lighthouses in Schleswig-Holstein Amrum Buildings and structures in Nordfriesland