Lindesnes Lighthouse () is a

coastal 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 ...

at the southernmost tip of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, about southwest of the village of

Høllen Høllen is a fishing village in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located at the mouth of the river Søgneelva, between the villages of Eig to the west, Tangvall to the north, and Åros to the east. Høllen is ...

Lindesnes Lindesnes () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Manda ...

municipality in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county. The present lighthouse was built in 1915, although the station was first built in 1656 to mark the entrance to the

Skaggerak The Skagerrak (; , , ) is a strait running between the North Jutlandic Island of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea. The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

from 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 ...

. The current tall lighthouse is

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

with a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

foundation. The lighthouse is painted white, with a red top. The light sits at an elevation of and it emits a fixed and flashing white light that is always on and it rotates between a low intensity and high intensity light every 20 seconds. The light comes from a first order

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 ...

that can be seen for up to .

History

The lighthouse was first built in 1656, and over the centuries, several more were built to replace the older ones. In 1822, the lighthouse was refitted with a coal lamp, and in 1854, a new lamp was installed with the current lens. The current

tower was set up in 1915 and fitted with the old

. In 1920, the lighthouse station got its first fog signal, a siren. The fog signal and its machinery is placed in a building beside the tower. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the lighthouse was taken over by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. Being an important watchpoint, the Germans built a small fortress with four guns and, after a while, a radar antenna. The traces from World War II are still visible as trenches, tunnels, and other fortifications. In the 1950s, the lighthouse station was

electrified 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 ...

and the fog signal was replaced with a powerful

Diaphone The diaphone is a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: It can produce deep, powerful tones, able to carry a long distance. Although they have fallen out of favor, diaphones were also used at some fire stations and in other situ ...

. The fog signal was closed as a navigational aid in 1988, but it is still operational and is used on special occasions. The lighthouse was selected as the

millennium site A millennium site () is a site selected by a Norwegian municipality or county municipality to mark the transition to the 2000s. In Norway it was decided that the counties and municipalities would choose one millennium site for each county and m ...

for Vest-Agder county.

Museum

Lindesnes Lighthouse is owned by the

Norwegian Coastal Administration Norwegian Coastal Administration () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the water transport infrastructure along the Coast of Norway. It is responsible for coastal navigation infrastructure, pilotage and harbour and port infrastr ...

and is still active. It is also a museum, operated by the non-profit Lindesnes Lighthouse Museum Foundation. In addition to the buildings belonging to the lighthouse, keeper's cottages, sheds, and boathouses, Lindesnes Lighthouse also has a visitor centre inside the nearby mountain with exhibitions, a cinema hall and a cafeteria. There is also a museum shop. Lindesnes Lighthouse Museum is a part of the National Museums of Coastal Infrastructure, Kystmusea, together with Tungenes Lighthouse outside

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, Dalsfjord Lighthouse museum in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

, and the

Lofoten Museum Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. There are two towns, ...

Kabelvåg , , or is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the administrat ...

. Kystmusea cooperates closely with the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

References

External links

Norsk Fyrhistorisk Forening: Lindesnes Fyrstasjon

Lindesnes fyrstasjon museum
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in the 17th century Buildings and structures completed in 1656 Transport infrastructure completed in the 1650s Towers completed in 1656 Lighthouses completed in 1915 Listed lighthouses in Norway Lighthouses in Agder Museums in Agder Maritime museums in Norway Lighthouse museums 1656 establishments in Norway Lindesnes Millennium sites

History

Museum

See also

References

External links