Name and Location

The Campener Lighthouse, also known as the Roter Dreimastturm ("Red Three-mast Tower"), is an active coastal guiding light located in Campen (Krummhörn), Lower Saxony, Germany. The address is Leuchtturmstraße 5, with coordinates 53°24′20.6″ N, 7°00′56.1″ E.

2. Construction and History

The Campener Lighthouse was constructed in 1889 by the Imperial Maritime Lighthouse Authority to improve navigation on the Ems estuary. It originally operated with a resident keeper but was fully automated after World War II. During WWII, the structure remained largely intact, though blackout orders intermittently silenced the light.

3. Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse is an industrial/skeletal tripod design made of painted steel lattice framework, with an octagonal lantern room at its peak. The three conical lattice masts are joined by horizontal and diagonal bracing, standing 63.3 meters tall above ground.

4. Light and Navigation

The light is fully automated and electrically powered. The beacon is visible up to 30 nautical miles, with three sectors: a fixed white light, a single flash every five seconds, and a group flash of four every 15 seconds.

5. Accessibility and Visiting

Visitors can climb the lighthouse via an internal steel staircase (approximately 300 steps) from mid-June to end October. The entrance fee is approximately €3 for adults, with reduced tickets for children and seniors. Limited wheelchair access is available on the ground floor, where an exhibition area offers insights into maritime history.

6. Notable Views and Landscape

From the gallery at 60 meters, visitors enjoy panoramic views of the Dollart tidal bay and marshes, the Ems River shipping lanes toward Emden, and distant East Frisian Islands on clear days. Nearby attractions include the historic fishing port of Greetsiel, Pilsum Lighthouse, coastal cycle paths, and salt-marsh nature reserves with bird-watching hides.

7. Anecdotes and Folklore

According to folklore, early keepers battled North Sea storms to keep the lantern burning for stranded fishing vessels. The lighthouse remains one of the tallest open-framework structures in Germany and one of only a handful of tripod-mast types worldwide.

8. Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse is managed by the Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (German Federal Waterways Administration) and has been listed as a monument under Lower Saxony registry no. 452014.00167.

9. Further Information

For more information, visit the official tourism page at https://www.greetsiel.de/sehenswuerdigkeiten/campener-leuchtturm or explore German Wikipedia (de:Leuchtturm Campen) and Wikidata (Q284886).