Skagen Lighthouse, also known as Gray Skagen Lighthouse , is an lighthouse 4 km northeast of Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark.
Danish beacons in Skagen go back to 1561 when the first fireplace with an open fire in a basket, to protect shipping on the northeast coast of Jutland. In 1627 the Skagen Vippefyr (Wippfeuer) was built. A coal fire was raised to a height using a wooden seesaw to make it visible from a greater distance, The Vippefyr was replaced in 1747 by an octagonal masonry tower planned by the architect Philip de Lange.
Skagen Lighthouse from 1858 is one of the country’s most iconic lighthouses. It is 46 meters high and was built in 1858, nicknamed the Gray Lighthouse.
Far up in the 19th century, Skagen Odde was one of the places with the most stranding, and there has therefore been good reason to build lighthouses on Odden between the two waters Skagerrak and Kattegat.
The Skagen Lighthouse, consists of an unpainted round brick tower with lantern and gallery, 46 m high. The attached two-story lighthouse keeper’s house is painted bright yellow. When it was built the lighthouse was more or less in the middle of the Skagen Odde peninsula but due to coastal erosion the lighthouse is now very close to the Kattegat coast in the southeast.
The Gray Lighthouse is open to the public almost all year round, and today houses an experience center with an exhibition, a café and shop, Skagen Bird Station as well as a laboratory and the Birders Club. Guided nature tours are offered all year round.
Access : Coordinates: 57.735278, 10.630278 /
Highlights :
- Skagen Grå Fyr is located on the extreme tip of Jutland, and has always been a lasting and alluring landmark for birds, ships, painters, tourists, sailors and many others.
- The lighthouse, which is 46 m high, is Denmark’s second tallest, surpassed only by Dueodde Lighthouse on Bornholm, which is one meter higher.
- Skagen Lighthouse was designed by the Danish architect Niels Sigfred Nebelong and was preserved in 1977.
- Opening hours : Skagen Grå Fyr is open to visitors all year except on Christmas and New Year’s Eve /10 am to 4 pm in the winter season and until 6pm in the summertime.
Go next : Skagen is Denmark’s northernmost city, located on Skagens Odde in Jutland / The small Kattegat harbor town of Aalbæk is 20 km south / 50 km southwest in the port city of Hirtshals, a visit to the Ozeaneum is worthwhile. / Råbjerg Mile , , the largest moving sand dune in Northern Europe.
