Simon Loschen Loghthouse, 2020
©Mailin Knoke
This picture is licensed under the license »Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 3.0« (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).Old Lighthouse (constructed by Simon Loschen)
When the New Harbor basin was constructed, a lighthouse to mark the entrance had become necessary for safe navigation. In 1853, the notable Bremen architect Simon Loschen (1818-1902) was commissioned with its design. Together with the renowned Hanover architect Carl Wilhelm Hase, he was one of the most important protagonists of the neo-gothic style in Northern Germany. Loschen also drew up plans for the Lord Mayor Smidt memorial church in the centre of Bremerhaven (1855) and the water tower in Lehe Park (1853). Tragically, Loschen was not able to continue his success and later died in poverty.
The 38.90-metre-tall lighthouse was inaugurated in 1855. Its exterior design reflects a revival of the traditional medieval north German brickwork gothic style. In the first decades, the light was fuelled by petroleum, but electrified in 1942 and automated in 1961. As an upper light, it at first marked two navigation passages, downstream and upstream. Together with a lower light, it marks today the mid-channel of a section of the River Weser. After about 1900, the outer walls were plastered over, but in the second half of the 1980s, a restoration project once more brought to light its original appearance. An adjacent building for the personnel of the lock and an office were destroyed in the Second World War.
Impressions
This picture is licensed under the license »Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 3.0« (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).