The Brandaris is a

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

on the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

island

Terschelling Terschelling (; ; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. ...

, in

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. It is the oldest lighthouse in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, listed as a

Rijksmonument A (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands had 61,822 l ...

, number 35032 and rated with a very high historical value.

History

The first tower was built in 1323 to guide ships on their way to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, through the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

, the narrow opening between

Vlieland (; ) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog. Vlieland is one of the West Frisian Islands, lying in t ...

and

. A good position marking was necessary because many islands in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

look very similar. When the sea flooded Terschelling in

1570 __NOTOC__ 1570 ( MDLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday in the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 8 – Ivan the Terrible begins the Massacre of Novgorod. * January 23 – The assassination of Scottish r ...

the tower was completely destroyed. In 1592 the construction of a new tower was started, but it collapsed before it was finished because bad building materials had been used. The current tower was built in 1594. In 1837 the tower was the first lighthouse in the Netherlands to be equipped with a rotating

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

took place in 1907. Today, the light in the tower is controlled fully automatically.

Description

Brandaris is the oldest preserved tower specifically built as a lighthouse in the Netherlands. In 1907 it was the first lighthouse in the Netherlands to be fitted with

electric light Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * Electric Light (album), ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James ...

ing. Brandaris is specially equipped to prevent birds from flying against the tower.

Name

The name of this tower may be a reference to Saint Brendan of Clonfert. There is also a Dutch

rolling tobacco Shag, also known as baccy, rolling tobacco or loose tobacco, is fine-cut tobacco, used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. It got its name from the finely cut strands app ...

brand , classified as heavy, containing of tar and of nicotine per of tobacco.

References

External links

Lighthouse Brandaris Terschelling
In: ''terschelling.org''
Lighthouse Explorer
{{Authority control Lighthouses in Friesland Terschelling Rijksmonuments in Friesland Buildings and structures completed in 1323 14th century in transport Medieval lighthouses Transport infrastructure completed in the 14th century Towers completed in the 14th century Lighthouses completed in the 16th century Transport infrastructure completed in the 1590s Buildings and structures completed in 1594

History

Description

Name

See also

References

External links