Saturday, 24 October 2015

DE-4589494 Kampen Lighthouse on the island of Sylt, Germany.

The Kampen lighthouse is located on Sylt, south of Kampen. Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia.

The Kampen lighthouse is a white conical stone tower with a broad black band. When Sylt belonged to the Danish realm in 1853, king Frederick VII ordered the construction of a lighthouse on Sylt's highest elevation, the red cliff. The tower was first lit in 1856.

Until 1953 the lighthouse used to be greyish-yellow, the colour of its whithered bricks. Then it was painted with its characteristic black and white. In 1929 the greatest modification was made to the Kampen lighthouse when the entire lantern house was altered and the light source was changed from petroleum to electricity.

There are no lighthouse keepers any more since 1977, like all active lights on Sylt, the Kampen lighthouse is remotely controlled by a time switch in Koblenz.

This postcard came from  Jörg (9 October 2015) Postcrossing.

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