On 8th June 1560, during the reign on King Frederik II the “ Royal Danish Lighthouse Commission” came into being. By 1900 around 175 lighthouses had been built in Denmark, of which 3 were on the north tip of Langeland. They were built between 1880 and 1895 and the the biggest and most important of them was the lighthouse at Hou.
Hou Lighthouse
The first lighthouse keeper at Hou (from 1893 -1914) was Harald Valdemar Octavius Westerman, who was born in Svendborg in 1851. From August 1900 Harald Valdemar’s wife Laurine Dorthea Westermann was also employed as a lighthouse keeper here.
In 1907 new lenses and a new light source, an incandescent burner fuelled by petroleum, were installed in the lighthouse. In 1923 it was the first lighthouse in Denmark to be fitted with the “autoform” incandescent burner, which were manufactured in England.
Hou Lighthouse was automated between 1949-50, after which time there was no permanent keeper working at the lighthouse.
Built in 1892
“Lighthouse Commisions: Hou Lighthouse” was built by M.P. Hansen and Harald Petersen from Horsens who won the tender for its construction. The cost of building the lighthouse alone was Kr 7,854.45, but the total cost which included building the nearby official residence for the assistant lighthouse keeper came to Kr 8,103.50.
It is not possible to visit the lighthouse buildings, so they can only be admired form a distance.
Hou Lighthouse (Fyr) - North Langeland
Hou Lighthouse (Fyr) - North Langeland
Hou Fyrvej
5953 Tranekær
Photo: Mette Johnsen
Photo: Mads Kirkegaard, Colourbox
Photo: Mette Johnsen
