Kõpu lighthouse

Kõpu Lighthouse

Kõpu Lighthouse is located on the Kõpu Peninsula in the village of Mägipe, on the island of Hiiumaa in Western Estonia. Built in the 16th century, it is the oldest lighthouse in Estonia.

It stands in the center of the Kõpu Peninsula, at geographic coordinates 58° 54′ 57″ N, 22° 11′ 59″ E.

Kõpu Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in the Baltic Sea region and the Baltics, and is considered the second or third oldest operational lighthouse in the world with a continuously burning light at its top.
Height and Appearance

The lighthouse was built on a hill 67 meters above sea level, the highest point on Hiiumaa. It stands 36 meters tall, and the light is located 102.6 meters above sea level—the highest beacon height along the Baltic Sea. Its light is white in all directions (sector 0°…360°) and visible up to 26 nautical miles.

The lighthouse is a white square tower with support buttresses, a balcony, and a red lantern room.
History

The most important east-west trade route in Northern Europe once passed by Hiiumaa. Kõpu Lighthouse was built to warn ships of the Hiiu Shoal. Since sailors did not yet use compasses, they navigated close to the shorelines.

Around 1500, the city council of Tallinn received permission from the Bishop of Saare-Lääne to build a lighthouse on the highest point of the Kõpu Peninsula. In fact, the Hanseatic League had already called for a signal light as early as the 1490s.

Construction began in 1504 and the lighthouse was completed in 1531, although work continued intermittently until 1538.

Initially, the lighthouse was 20 meters high, half its current height. For more than a century, it stood as a lightless beacon.

In 1649, fire was kindled on a platform at the top of the tower, which then functioned as a fire beacon. A metal basket containing burning wood and coal was used. More than 1000 fathoms of firewood were burned annually, brought in by local peasants. Six men worked continuously to maintain the fire. Similar fire beacons had existed in Sweden since 1229.

In 1810, the tower was nationalized. A staircase was cut into the tower, and two upper rooms and a lamp room were built. Over time, the light source changed from oil to kerosene and later acetylene.

In 1822, Augustin Fresnel invented a lens composed of glass prisms, revolutionizing lighthouse optics.

In 1900, a new lantern room with a rotating optical system was purchased from the World Lighthouse Exhibition in Paris. Installed in 1901 under the Russian Navy’s supervision (which owned the lighthouse at the time), the system had a primitive but reliable design. The optics rotated in a mercury bath, which, thanks to mercury’s high density, served as a nearly frictionless support. This system required no lubrication and experienced virtually no wear.
Modern Era

In autumn 1941, the lighthouse suffered its only confirmed attack: German aircraft bombed it. The building at its base was destroyed, but machine gun fire to the dome only damaged glass and optics.

To mark the 450th anniversary of the lighthouse in the 1980s, it underwent repairs. Earlier, oil-based paint had been used, causing moisture to accumulate in the materials, leading to the collapse of plaster from beneath.

In 1989–1990, the tower was encased in a strong reinforced concrete “jacket” to prevent collapse.

There is another important lighthouse on Kõpu Peninsula: the Ristna Lighthouse, built in 1874 on the western tip.

Kõpu Lighthouse is featured on the coat of arms of Hiiu Parish, introduced in 2013.