Name and Location

The Pellworm Lighthouse, also known as the "Rot-weiß-roter Turm" ("Red-white-red Tower"), stands on the Süderkoog causeway that connects the North Sea island of Pellworm to the mainland. Its location is at Address: Süderkoogweg 9, 25849 Pellworm, Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, with coordinates 54°29′46.6″ N, 8°39′57.5″ E.

Construction and History

The Pellworm Lighthouse was built in 1902 as part of a range-light system. It was first lit in 1903, with the rear-range function commissioned shortly thereafter. The lighthouse has remained in active service as a rear-range and directional light since then.

Architecture and Materials

The Pellworm Lighthouse is a functional steel-girder tower in industrial/landmark design. It features a steel framework clad with corrugated iron panels, painted in alternating horizontal bands of red and white. The lighthouse stands 41 meters tall, with a focal height of 38 meters above mean high water.

Light and Navigation

The Pellworm Lighthouse serves primarily as a rear-range light in combination with a front-range (leading) beacon to guide vessels through the Pellworm Channel. It also carries several sector and directional lights. The lighthouse's characteristic is all Oc 5 s, sequence 4+1 flashes.

Accessibility and Visiting

The tower itself is not open to visitors for safety and operational reasons. However, the base and immediate surroundings can be viewed from the roadside path. Visitors can reach the site by car or bicycle along Süderkoogweg from Pellworm village (approx. 3 km). A small parking area is adjacent to the tower.

Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse towers over expansive tidal flats to the northwest and sheep-grazed salt marsh to the southeast. On clear days, visitors may spot the distant silhouette of the Danish island of Langli or seabirds swirling in the sheltered back-waters of the Wadden Sea.

Anecdotes and Folklore

Local mariners often refer to it simply as the "Pellworm Tower." During the North Sea flood of 1962, the tower's lantern house served as a landmark for rescue boats navigating submerged dyke roads.

Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse is fully automated and does not have keeper's quarters in service. It uses Bos/POCSAG Paging (2 m band) and Public Safety Radio. The seamark type is Landmark and rear-range light.

Further Information

• For further information, please visit de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuchtturm_Pellworm or consult WSA Tönning technical bulletins, Hamburgisches Seeschifffahrtsamt chart B.1676.1, or Coastal Guide to Schleswig-Holstein (Tourismus-Service Nordfriesland).