Lighthouse on the Hel Peninsula

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Text published with the kind permission of the author.

Since ancient times, ships sailing in the Baltic on their way to Gdansk encountered an obstacle on their way in the form of a thirty-kilometer spit, which they had to go around. At the tip of the spit, they very often lost their orientation and found themselves in the shallows that surround the cape. From the time when people settled on Hel, lighting fires as signs for ships sailing on the sea became the main (except for fishing) occupation of the inhabitants of these lands.

The history of Hel sea lighthouses begins several centuries ago from a defunct settlement called “Old Hel”, which lay about 2 km northwest of today’s village of Hel. An old chronicle mentions a fire lit on the tower of the old church (16th century). Its quadrangular tower was 116 feet high (about 34 m), the outside was covered with lead, and the inside was covered with brass. In its upper part there were eight glazed windows, through which the blazing fire could be seen from the sea. The old settlement and the church tower burned down in a fire in 1572. After the fire, the settlement began to be built in a new location. In 1638, local sailors turned to the city authorities of Gdansk with a request to build a new lighthouse on the cape.  The magistrate invited representatives of the local population and, after listening to all the arguments, positively considered their petition. After 1640, a fire was lit on the Cape on a wooden raised structure, the light source of which was a coal fire. The fire burned annually between 24 August and 3 May. Its flames were visible even 6 miles from the coast. In 1667, the wooden structure was destroyed by fire. By decision of the Magistrate, the lighthouse was rebuilt again, but

this time its design has been significantly improved. Such designs of ancient lighthouses were close to the well crane.

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Lighthouse of wooden structure with lifting light

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Lighthouse-crane with the so-called “Vulcan pot”

In 1702 - this time a powerful storm - also destroyed this then modern construction. Since navigation in this Baltic region was always dangerous, a new lighthouse was built. But the lighthouses on Hel were still structures made of wood. They were not durable buildings, and the risk of fire threatened them daily. Entries in the church registers speak of the construction of a lighthouse in 1763, as well as the decision taken shortly thereafter that from 1790 “helska bliza” (bliza is a Kashubian word meaning lighthouse) following the example of foreign lights would be used throughout the whole year. Despite the fulfillment of its function, it was already planned at that time to move it to a more convenient place (more distant from the coastline) and build a house for the lighthouse keeper. In 1790, a special commission arrived in Hel and chose one of the dunes located to the east of the previous structure as the site for building a new lighthouse along with a modest apartment for its keeper. The light was supposed to burn on it every day from sunset to sunrise. However, the new design was still a pillar - a crane on which the cauldron was suspended.

The lighthouse keeper was Gdańsk tradesman Carl Ernst Golchen, previously a ship carpenter, who lit the first light on August 22, 1790. The funds allocated for the construction and maintenance of the new lighthouse were covered by the so-called “lighthouse fee”, which was collected from each vessel entering the port of Gdansk. The light could be raised on it to a height of only 6-8 meters. Since there was a risk on Hel that the light would be obscured by the crowns of ever-growing trees, clearings were cut around it in three important directions: to the east, towards the Vistłoustye and Oksywa (now an area in Gdynia). The remains of this particular lighthouse were discovered in 1935 near the boarding house "Polonja" (German: Kurhaus), which no longer exists today.

Construction of the first stone lighthouse on Hel began in 1806. The Napoleonic Wars interrupted this work for many years, so the finished tower was put into operation only in 1826. Next to it, a complex of residential buildings for lighthouse keepers and their families, along with utility buildings, simultaneously arose. A small service building was also built behind the tower itself. The new lighthouse, however, did not stand exactly in the place of its predecessor, but closer to the outer dune (54°36'06''N and 18°49'04''E). It was a slender round tower, over 41 meters high, made of baked brick, painted white. The height of the fire was 37.6 m.

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Pre-war postcard with a view of the lighthouse and the keeper's house (1928).

There were 180 steps leading to the top of the tower, and the laterna (lantern room) was topped with a cone-shaped roof and was painted dark green. The first light shone on the lighthouse on the evening of August 1, 1827. In the laterna there were 6 lamps with reflectors in which rapeseed oil burned. The light of the new lighthouse was observed from a distance of 17 nautical miles and had the following characteristics: light - 30 seconds, darkness - 30 seconds, period - 1 minute. Unfortunately, the trees partially obscured it. Therefore, ships that left the visibility range of the lighthouse in Rozyv, and had not yet seen the Hel lighthouse, crashed on the shoals between Jastarnia and Hel. Such cases became the basis for the decision to build the next new lighthouse in Jastarni Borze (1872-1939).

In 1903, a cannon was installed near the stone lighthouse of Hel, which warned of the appearance of fog with a blank shot every 4 minutes. But on December 8, 1910, a tragic incident occurred and the then lighthouse keeper named May died from an explosion while firing one of these shots. To this day, near the lighthouse there is a monument made of stones, which reminds of its tragic fate. The monument is made from the stone steps of the old “white” lighthouse, but for some reason the year 1905 is indicated.

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In 1926, the Pintsch company installed an oil lamp on the lighthouse, as well as 4 new lenses. Since 1929, the lighthouse has had the appearance of a white tower with two wide red stripes. This coloring was a warning sign for aircraft flying over this area. Only towards the end of 1938, electric light was supplied to the lighthouse.

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View of the lighthouse in 1929-39.

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Hel on the old map.

In the late thirties, the source of light on the Cape was a 3000-watt light bulb. This lamp contained 3 filaments of 1000 W each. Each. This gave confidence that the light would not go out if one or even two threads burned out. A signal mast stood 300 m north of the lighthouse. The so-called “Helic semaphore” showed the strength and direction of the wind through a change in the angle of its shoulders. In the signs below you could find out the current wind direction in neighboring areas. Published in 1924 “A Guide to the Pomeranian Voivodeship” you can read about the lighthouse: *“...The sea lighthouse stands east of the village of Hel, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, and there is a signal station near it. You can visit it all day long for a fee of one zloty. Inside there are 180 steps to a gallery from where there is a beautiful view of the sea, the Hel peninsula and the gray land on the horizon. The heights above Gdańsk, Oliwa and Sopot are visible, and with good visibility, through a lorgnette you can recognize the churches of Gdańsk, see the church tower in Puck and the sea lighthouse in Rozyw. Ultimately, you can see all around the sea and the ships that sail on it, as if you were on an island. From the moment the sun sets, the lantern is lit, and the light is produced

There are 6 lamps that rotate for 3 minutes around a common axis. As a result, they alternate between light and shadow. Since Hela experiences terrible storms in autumn and winter, the sea lighthouse had to be built very strong, and its walls are 2 m thick at the base. **Contrary to this, the lighthouse oscillates during a storm and, according to the readings of a special device, its deviation from the vertical is sometimes more than 20 cm. Not far from the lighthouse there is a semaphore to indicate the direction and strength of the wind, and to the south there is a signal station, where during thick fog Cannon shots are fired every 4 minutes.”*

In September 1939, during the hostilities, the commander of the Hel fortified area, Admiral Wladimir Steyer, decided to blow up the lighthouse in order to deprive the German artillerymen of an excellent landmark. His order was carried out on September 19, 1939 at 13.30. Thus, World War II put an end to the first stone lighthouse on Hel.

Since a lighthouse in this place was necessary for the safe navigation of warships and vessels, the German occupation authorities decided to build it. The lighthouse project was approved in Berlin on May 10, 1941. In 1942, the inhabitants of the peninsula built a new lighthouse within 7 months, which was located 10 meters southeast of the foundation of its undermined predecessor. From the very beginning, the new lighthouse was electrically powered and the tower had an octagonal plan. Its height is 41.5 m and is made of dark red facing bricks.   The light source (1000-watt light bulb) is located at an altitude of 38.5 m above sea level, and its visibility range is 17 nautical miles. In the latern, a class III Fresnel lens with a height of 1400 mm and a diameter of 500 mm is installed on a base 1 m high. After the end of hostilities, the lighthouse began its work again on June 1, 1945. The characteristics of the fire were as follows: light - 4 sec., darkness - 6 sec., period - 10 sec. Since 1957, the beacon also performs the functions of a radio beacon and has an educational signal “HL” (in Morse code). From the moment of construction to the present day, the appearance of the lighthouse has not undergone major changes and 197 steps still lead to the top of the tower. In 1989

.  At the top of the tower there is a radar antenna for a vessel traffic control system. In 1992, repair work was carried out on the lighthouse and the laterna roof was replaced. The removed old spire with a lightning rod now decorates the courtyard of a neighboring house. At the foot of the tower, the ancient manor house of the lighthouse keepers deserves attention. Together with a utility shed, an aggregation room and a bunker-basement for rapeseed oil reserves, it has been in use since the beginning of the 19th century. On the right side outside you can see the preserved power plant building, which contains the power units. Every year thousands of tourists visit this beautiful corner of the Polish coast during the summer season (May-August) and, of course, visit the lighthouse. Address: ul. Bałtycka 484-150 Hel tel. (58) 675 06 17. Ticket price is 6 zlotys (2012).

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Lighthouse in 2012 (photo by the author)

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List of used literature:

M. Czerner “Latarnie morskie polskiego wybrzeza” Poznan, 1986

A.Lysejko “Historia latarni morskiej Hel” Gdynia, 2007

A. Komorowski, I. Pietkiewicz, A. Szulczewski “Najstarsze latarnie morskie Zatoki Gdanskiej” Gdansk, 2009

Internet pages: www.rzygacz.webd.pl, www.tpcmm.pl

Translation, photos and article compilation:

Victor Prilutsky ([email protected])