Skagen's Vippefyr (sometimes referred to in English as Skagen's Lever Light) is a navigational light mechanism located in

Skagen Skagen () is the northernmost town in Denmark, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in North Denmark Region, Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalbo ...

in the far north of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. The original vippefyr, the first of its kind, was built in 1627. A faithful copy now stands on the same site. It replaced an earlier parrot light (''papegøjefyr'') and served until 1747 when the White Lighthouse was brought into operation.

History

In 1560,

Frederick II of Denmark Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark-Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1559 until his death in 1588. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Fre ...

ordered his vassal

Otte Brahe Otte Brahe (; 2 October 1518 – 9 May 1571) was a Danes, Danish (Scanian) Danish nobility, nobleman and statesman, who served on the privy council (Rigsraad, "Council of the Realm"). He was married to Beate Clausdatter Bille and was the father o ...

to establish lights at

Anholt Anholt may refer to: Places *Anholt (Denmark), Danish island * Anholt, Netherlands, village in Drenthe, Netherlands *Anholt, Germany, district of the city of Isselburg, Germany **The Lordship of Anholt, historical state People *Christien Anholt ( ...

and Kullen (in Sweden) to mark the main route through Danish waters 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 ...

to the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

. Initially wood and seaweed were used as fuel for the light, burnt on a tiled floor at the top of a wooden tower. Later, coal was used for all Danish lights as it provided better illumination but it often caused the wooden towers to catch fire. It was Jens Pedersen Grove from

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

who designed the vippefyr which consisted of a tipping mechanism where the coal could be burnt in an iron container hoisted up into the air so that it could be seen from afar while avoiding damage to the wooden structure. Vippefyr simply means "tipping light" or "rocking light". Thanks to its success, vippefyr were also constructed at

Falsterbo Falsterbo (, outdatedly ) is a town located at the south-western tip of Sweden in Vellinge Municipality in Skåne. Falsterbo is situated in the southern part of the Falsterbo peninsula. It is part of Skanör med Falsterbo, one of Sweden's histori ...

in southern Sweden and on the island of

in the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

. The latter remained in operation until 1788. Today's vippefyr is a faithful copy of the original. It was the artist

Carl Locher Carl Locher (21 November 1851 – 20 December 1915) was a Danish realist painter who from an early age became a member of the Skagen group of painters. Biography Carl Ludvig Thilson Locher was born in Flensburg in the Duchy of Schleswig wh ...

of the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters () were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scenic nature, local mi ...

who first made a copy in 1913 on the occasion of Skagen's 500th anniversary. It stood on the site of the first vippefyr until Rotary Skagen provided a reconstruction in 1958. It is lit once a year for the midsummer festivities on Sankt Hans Aften when a bonfire also burns on the beach."Vippefyret"
, Skagen-Tourist.dk. Retrieved 11 November 2013.

References

{{Skagen Skagen Buildings and structures in Skagen Lighthouses in Denmark Lighthouses completed in the 17th century Buildings and structures completed in 1627 Transport infrastructure completed in the 1620s Towers completed in 1627

History

See also

References