Taran

Also known as: Таран, Брюстерорт

active · Tower 31 m · Focal 64 m

TaranAI-assisted illustration

AI-assisted illustration - interpretative, not documentary evidence.

LUX143 · LUX143 generated illustration; publication controlled by project rights policy · AI-generated interpretative watercolor for display only. Not documentary evidence and not a historical photograph.

lux143-watercolor-v1 · OpenAI image_gen via LUX143 · 2026-06-25

At a glance

Place

Country
Russia

Structure

Status
active Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)
Construction date
1846 Multiple lighthouse phases
Tower height
31 Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)
Focal height
64 Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)

Light Signature

No accepted light signature claims yet.

Signal pattern, color, period, visibility, optics, and operating context appear here after field-level review.

Names & naming history

EN · Common

RU · Alternative

RU · Official

Machine-readable names JSON

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public record-level source only · taran.jpg

The lighthouse is installed on the northwestern protrusion of the Kaliningrad Peninsula - a cape that was formerly called Brewsterort - from the German words "Brust" - chest and "Ort" - place. The peninsula was renamed Taran in 1947, and the lighthouse was renamed in 1963.

This name is very suitable for the peninsula and cape protruding into the sea where sea routes to many European countries pass. It’s as if he’s ramming them, forcing them to change course and go around the cape.

A.I. Nagaev, exploring this area, wrote in 1751: “Brewsterort is a blunt cape, high, steep to the W and N, overgrown with forest on the north side. There are two sandy mountains on it, and to the south of them not far, at the height of the coast, between the hills, there is a pickaxe, and behind it to Pillava (now Baltiysk. - Author) another. At its very north-west steepness I have been before this there was a fiery lighthouse, and now a building is visible... From Brewsterort on the NW there is an underwater reef stretching out into the sea for 1/4 mile, which those passing should be wary of.”

From this description it follows that the “fire” lighthouse existed on the cape, apparently, from ancient times. According to some sources, a signal light to mark the cape and warn sailors against the nearby rocky reef began to be lit on the site of the current lighthouse in 1700.

Until 1945, the cape belonged to East Prussia. It is known that the lighthouse was rebuilt several times by German specialists. In the 1820s, instead of a fire in the canfora, a tower was built on the cape, to the top of which a lantern with three parabolic reflectors was raised at night. The lighthouse existed in this form until 1846, when a red octagonal tower 30.5 m high with a black domed roof and a red brick house next to it were erected at the 33-meter height of the cape. The lighthouse shone with a constant white light.

In 1936, a light-optical device from the Pinch company was installed on the tower, which created a white group flashing light. The flashing characteristic was formed by three screens rotating around the optical part of the apparatus.

In 1945, as a result of the Great Patriotic War, the lighthouse became the property of the USSR. All buildings, tower, technical means

were left by the Germans without major damage, which made it possible to put it into operation as soon as possible.

The foundation of the tower is made of rubble stone. Its walls are four bricks thick at the base and two bricks at the top. Concrete staircase on metal stringers. The lantern structure is glazed with 6 mm thick storm glass. The roof dome is covered with blued copper.

In 1947, a LIEGE-type nautofon and a radio beacon were installed 120 m from the lighthouse. In 1956, a new light-optical apparatus with a white group flashing light was installed in the lamp structure, providing a visibility range of up to 21 miles.

Taran is one of those few lighthouses that are lit not only at night, but also during the day, if the visibility range at sea becomes less than 4 miles, and in the area of ​​the cape this happens quite often.

The first head of the lighthouse after the end of the Great Patriotic War was Petty Officer 1st Article V. Zaitsev. He was replaced in this post by Sergei Aleksandrovich Teryaev, who worked at the lighthouse for 36 years. He was helped by dedicated specialists, and among them Nikolai Maksimovich Kulikov and Ivan Fedorovich Antoshin, who devoted about 40 years to the lighthouse - most of their lives.

Taran has been repeatedly recognized as the best lighthouse of the Baltic Fleet. For great achievements in ensuring the safety of navigation, the Red Banner of the Military Council of the Baltic Fleet was left for eternal storage by the lighthouse staff.

Currently, the lighthouse is under the jurisdiction of the Hydrographic Service of the Baltic Fleet and reliably ensures the safety of approaches to the ports of Kaliningrad and Baltiysk.

Source: Beacons of Russia

Now there is a closed military unit of the Baltic Fleet located around the Taran, so not everyone can visit the lighthouse.

The Tarana lighthouse complex consists of a light beacon, a radio beacon and a nautofon - a sound device that works in bad weather. The light signal is located under the very roof of the lighthouse tower; the lighthouse watch turns it on in the evening and turns it off in the morning strictly according to the illumination table. The white flashing light of the Taran can be seen 20 miles from the coast. The radio beacon operates around the clock, and its signal range is about 25 miles.

The Nautophone emits a beep at a frequency of 300 hertz. The sound signal is turned on when a special buoy is hidden in the fog, located at a distance of 12-13 cable lengths (about 2.4 kilometers) from the shore.

Books about the lighthouse

The novel by the German writer Johannes Richard “The Lighthouse in Brusterort” (Johannes Richard zur Megene (1864-1906) “Das Blinkfeuer von Brusterort” Stuttgart, 1906). See our beacon library

Heritage identity & evidence

Identity

LUX ID
LUX-LH-000107
Type
Lighthouse
Object kind
Lighthouse
Current status
active

Review & coverage

Showcase rank 9 · candidateReadiness needs-reviewText location onlyRecord-level source only16 accepted field claims

External identifiers

No reviewed external identifiers yet.

Key source-backed claims

Claim evidence

Operational status

Selected valueInherited from archiveNeeds reviewed field source

Selected value: active

Why this value is shown: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Archive value: active

Show claim history
  • active selected why: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive · Таран (Брюстерорт) Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-status-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
    winner_reason
    current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
Technical details
field_id
status
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-status-001
winner_reason
current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
accepted/current claims without valid_to; prefer accepted, then latest valid_from, curated source, confidence, id.

Construction or building date

Multiple lighthouse phasesInherited from archiveNeeds reviewed field source

Phase history: 1846

Reviewer action: Treat each active date as a separate lighthouse phase, rebuild, first-light, or current-structure date before promoting phase-specific facts.

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Archive value: 1846

Show claim history
  • 1846 · Таран (Брюстерорт) Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-construction_date-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
Technical details
field_id
construction_date
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-construction_date-001
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
repeatable lifecycle phase field; display active values as phase history and only flag conflict when review assigns two different values to the same phase.

Tower height

Selected valueInherited from archiveNeeds reviewed field source

Selected value: 31

Why this value is shown: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Archive value: 31 m

Show claim history
  • 31 selected why: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive · Таран (Брюстерорт) Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-tower_height-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
    winner_reason
    current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
Technical details
field_id
tower_height
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-tower_height-001
winner_reason
current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
accepted/current claims without valid_to; prefer accepted, then latest valid_from, curated source, confidence, id.

Focal height

Selected valueInherited from archiveNeeds reviewed field source

Selected value: 64

Why this value is shown: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Archive value: 64 m

Show claim history
  • 64 selected why: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive · Таран (Брюстерорт) Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-focal_height-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
    winner_reason
    current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
Technical details
field_id
focal_height
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-focal_height-001
winner_reason
current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
accepted/current claims without valid_to; prefer accepted, then latest valid_from, curated source, confidence, id.

English name

Selected valueNeeds reviewed field source

Selected value: Taran

Why this value is shown: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive

Field support: Needs a reviewed field source

Show claim history
  • Taran selected why: Current evidence is active; Source: Legacy archive field; Inherited from the archive · Таран (Брюстерорт) Current · archive · Legacy archive field
    Technical details
    claim_id
    CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-english_name-001
    review_status
    current
    confidence
    archive
    source_type
    migration_field
    winner_reason
    current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
Technical details
field_id
english_name
current_claim_id
CLAIM-LUX-LH-000107-english_name-001
winner_reason
current active claim; source type migration_field; confidence archive
field_support_status
no-trusted-reference
candidate_count
1
distinct_value_count
1
review_guidance
accepted/current claims without valid_to; prefer accepted, then latest valid_from, curated source, confidence, id.

3 active / 3 total in-archive source links. Full sources and reference search leads below

External Identity Graph

  • LUX Light Archive
    LUX-LH-000107 Canonical LUX ID

    Local identity anchor for the record and related claims.

  • Wikidata
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Resolve to a verified QID before treating as evidence.

  • Wikipedia
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Useful for public descriptions and cross-checking, but text must be rewritten or quoted sparingly.

  • ARLHS
    Search / review Review source

    review lead · Search the World List of Lights and add a verified ARLHS ID when found.

  • OpenStreetMap
    Search / review Search lead

    review lead · Resolve to a stable node, way, or relation URL before acceptance.

  • Source URLs
    3 active / 3 total in-record source links Record source URLs

    record provenance · Record-level source URLs are listed in the source provenance section.

  • Lighthouse Directory
    Search / review Review source

    review lead · Use the regional directory page as a trusted catalogue lead; add the exact URL after review.

Evidence graph

Derived view of how sources, facts, identifiers, lifecycle events, and relationships support this record.

8 sources5 field-supported facts7 object-only refs

Facts

  • Construction or building date construction_date · 1846
  • English name english_name · Taran
  • Focal height focal_height · 64
  • Operational status status · active
  • Tower height tower_height · 31

Lifecycle

  • No lifecycle evidence nodes yet.

Open evidence graph JSON

View by year

Reconstructed state

Open state profile JSON
1846

History and connections

Lifecycle summary

Built

Current status: active

Lifecycle events

  1. BuiltInherited from legacy archive

    Construction date recorded.

    1 source · medium confidence

Construction phases

Repeated construction dates are treated as lighthouse phases or rebuilds, not one current-date conflict.

  1. 1846 · Таран (Брюстерорт) · Phase claim

    Source narrative context: ...e top of which a lantern with three parabolic reflectors was raised at night. The lighthouse existed in this form until 1846, when a red octagonal tower 30.5 m high with a black domed roof and a red brick house next to it were erected at the 33-meter height of the cape. The lighthouse shone with a constant white light.

Coordinate roles

  • structure position · Mayachnik Tahkuna source links

Evidence and data

Detailed timeline, graph, map history, and JSON exports for review and research.

1 history events 2 record changes 1 connected objects 0 places

Coverage: no-accepted-coordinates

Lighthouse history (1 events)
  1. Construction date recordedrecord-derived
Record history (2 changes)
  1. Archive record createdarchive-metadata
  2. Archive record updatedarchive-metadata
Connection graph (1 objects)
Geo timeline (0 places)

No accepted coordinate point yet. The text geography remains listed as context.

  • Geography contextРоссия · text-only

Rights & Attribution

Content License

Original editorial content on this page: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. See Rights & Reuse.

Media Rights

No published media with documented rights on this record.

Attribution

"Taran" · LUX-LH-000107 · © LUX143 · Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International · https://light.lux143.org/lighthouses/LUX-LH-000107/

Citation

LUX Light Archive, Lighthouse record: "Taran", LUX-LH-000107, https://light.lux143.org/lighthouses/LUX-LH-000107/, accessed 2026-07-03, archive v0.24.42.

Legacy archive provenance

This object now uses its LUX identity as the public record. The original Drupal node is preserved as migration provenance and a compatibility route.

Canonical LUX ID
LUX-LH-000107
Legacy node
node:598
Legacy URL
/node/598/
Drupal source type
lighthouse
Source system
drupal_migration
Source path
/node/598

Trusted References

Known external identifiers and review leads for Wikipedia, Wikidata, map, registry, and catalogue coverage. Search leads are not accepted evidence until reviewed. Field-level evidence is implied only when evidence scope or supported fields are explicit.

SourceStatusEvidence scopeReferenceReview note
Wikidatasearch-candidateSearch / reviewResolve to a verified QID before treating as evidence.
Wikipediasearch-candidateSearch / reviewUseful for public descriptions and cross-checking, but text must be rewritten or quoted sparingly.
OpenStreetMapsearch-candidateSearch / reviewResolve to a stable node, way, or relation URL before acceptance.
ARLHSreview-sourceSearch / reviewSearch the World List of Lights and add a verified ARLHS ID when found.
Lighthouse Directoryreview-sourceSearch / reviewUse the regional directory page as a trusted catalogue lead; add the exact URL after review.
Record identifiers
Node
598
Source type
lighthouse
Review class
Lighthouse
Wikidata class
Q39715
Created
27/05/2011 14:44:05 UTC
Changed
24/11/2012 11:32:35 UTC
Source path
/node/598
All technical fields
Status
active Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)
Construction date
1846 Multiple lighthouse phases
Tower height
31 Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)
Focal height
64 Legacy archive claim · Таран (Брюстерорт)
Light height
Not recorded
Light characteristic
Not recorded
Light number
Not recorded
Operation
Not recorded
Visibility
Not recorded
Legacy light IDs
Not recorded
Call sign
Not recorded
Lens / optics
Not curated
Latitude
Not recorded
Longitude
Not recorded

Empty lighthouse fields are shown so review gaps are visible. Lens and optics are curated as heritage assets when evidence exists.