Seeing a lighthouse surrounded by sand is quite unusual and seems strange. Usually they are surrounded by sea on a rocky promontory, on a remote island, left to inclement weather. However, this is not the case with the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse because its conditions have not been easy.
Rubjerg Knude is a lighthouse in Denmark located on the North Sea coast. It was built in 1899 and ceased operations in the late 60s. It stands on top of a 60 meters high hill and at the beginning worked as a gas lamp.
The problem and the difficulties the Danish lighthouse encountered were due to its location. It is problematic because coastal erosion and erosion by sand are constant. Every year the coast erodes one and a half meters and it never stops.
For a long time after the lighthouse stopped working the picturesque building has been used as a museum and a café, but erosion and the movement of dunes forced the site to close in 2002. Erosion stopped in 2009 overtaking some of the side buildings such as the lighthouse keeper’s house, leaving only the tower. Unfortunately, experts say that before long the lighthouse will be swallowed by the sea. The estimated year is 2023.
The Rubjerg Knude lighthouse is 23 meters high and when it was built it was about 200 meters inland and had no dunes around.
Lighthouse photos: Dreamdancer_77, Morten Nielsen, Henrik Jensen, Ingela Eriksson, Matthias Buehler.
