NL-3812990 NL-4252752 'Paard van Marken" (Horse of Marken) Lighthouse

Marken is a village with a population of 1,810 in the municipality of Waterland in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Marken forms a peninsula in the Markermeer and was formerly an island in the Zuiderzee. The characteristic wooden houses of Marken are a tourist attraction.

In Marken, there is a lighthouse which is referred to as "Paard van Marken" which translates as "The horse of Marken". The current lighthouse was designed by J. Valk and built in 1839 and stands on the eastern tip of the peninsula. The tower has a light height of 15.5 meters and a light range of 16.7 km.

The tower began in 1700 as a square lighthouse. This was one of three lighthouses at Marken, De Ven and Durgerdam.  They were constructed which in 1699 to mark the route from the Wadden Sea to Amsterdam. The towers were originally equipped with oil lamps. .

In 1839 the square stone tower was replaced by a round iron copy on the old foundation. Later, a brick building with a house and storage space was built at the lighthouse, which gave the tower its current characteristic shape.

In 1970, the tower was declared a national monument.

The top postcard came from Hester (10 December 2018) and the lower postcard from Marianne (7 June 2017).