Skagen's Vippefyr (sometimes referred to in English as Skagen's Lever Light) is a navigational light mechanism located in Skagen in the far north of Jutland. The original vippefyr, the first of its kind, was built in 1627. A faithful copy now stands on the same site. It replaced an earlier parrot light (papegøjefyr) and served until 1747 when the White Lighthouse was brought into operation. [1]
In 1560, Frederick II of Denmark ordered his vassal Otte Brahe to establish lights at Skagen, Anholt and Kullen (in Sweden) to mark the main route through Danish waters from the North Sea to the Baltic. [2] Initially wood and seaweed were used as fuel for the light, burnt on a tiled floor at the top of a wooden tower. Later, coal was used for all Danish lights as it provided better illumination but it often caused the wooden towers to catch fire. It was Jens Pedersen Grove from Helsingør who designed the vippefyr which consisted of a tipping mechanism where the coal could be burnt in an iron container hoisted up into the air so that it could be seen from afar while avoiding damage to the wooden structure. Vippefyr simply means "tipping light" or "rocking light". [3] Thanks to its success, vippefyr were also constructed at Falsterbo in southern Sweden and on the island of Anholt in the Kattegat. The latter remained in operation until 1788. [4]
Today's vippefyr is a faithful copy of the original. It was the artist Carl Locher of the Skagen Painters who first made a copy in 1913 on the occasion of Skagen's 500th anniversary. It stood on the site of the first vippefyr until Rotary Skagen provided a reconstruction in 1958. It is lit once a year for the midsummer festivities on Sankt Hans Aften when a bonfire also burns on the beach. [5]
The Kattegat is a 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutlandin the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Sweden in the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Danish straits. The sea area is a continuation of the Skagerrak and may be seen as a bay of the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, though this is not the case in traditional Scandinavian usage.
Skagen is the northernmost town in Denmark, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, 41 kilometres (25 mi) north of Frederikshavn and 108 kilometres (67 mi) northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is Denmark's main fishing port and it also has a thriving tourist industry, attracting 2 million people annually.
Vendsyssel is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island which also comprises the areas Hanherred and Thy. Vendsyssel is part of the North Denmark Region.
Anholt is a Danish island in the Kattegat, midway between Jutland and Sweden at the entrance to the North Sea in Northern Europe. There were 150 permanent residents as of 1 January 2022. Anholt is seven mi (11 km) long and about four mi (6.4 km) wide at its widest, and covers an area of 21.75 km2 (8.40 sq mi). Anholt is part of Norddjurs Municipality in Region Midtjylland. Before the 2007 municipal reform, it was in Grenå Municipality.
Grenen is a long sandbar spit at Skagen Odde, north of the town of Skagen.
A bascule light or tipping lantern was a type of small navigational aid popular in Denmark in the 18th century and before. It consisted of a basket in which wood or coal was set; this was then burned. The basket was affixed to a bascule that allowed it to be manipulated as required. The vippefyr system was generally viewed as ineffective, as it produced little light and was usually unreliable.
Råbjerg Mile is a migrating coastal dune between Skagen and Frederikshavn, Denmark. It is the largest moving dune in Northern Europe with an area of around 2 km2 (0.77 sq mi) and a height of 40 m (130 ft) above sea level. It is also the only major stretch of migrating dunes in Denmark. The dune contains a total of 4 million m3 of sand. The wind moves it in a north-easterly direction up to 18 metres (59 ft) a year. The dune leaves a low, moist layer of sand behind it, trailing back westwards towards Skagerrak, where the Mile originally formed more than 300 years ago. Over 250,000 people visit the dune every year.
Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is a Danish offshore wind power wind farm in the Kattegat, between Djursland and Anholt island. With a nameplate capacity of 400 megawatts (MW), it is one of the largest offshore wind farm in the world and was the largest in Denmark from 2013 to 2019. A cable from the wind farm to Anholt replaces most of the diesel-powered electricity on the island.
The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scenic nature, local milieu and social community attracted northern artists to paint en plein air, emulating the French Impressionists—though members of the Skagen colony were also influenced by Realist movements such as the Barbizon school. They broke away from the rather rigid traditions of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, espousing the latest trends that they had learned in Paris. Among the group were Anna and Michael Ancher, Peder Severin Krøyer, Holger Drachmann, Karl Madsen, Laurits Tuxen, Marie Krøyer, Carl Locher, Viggo Johansen and Thorvald Niss from Denmark, Oscar Björck and Johan Krouthén from Sweden, and Christian Krohg and Eilif Peterssen from Norway. The group gathered together regularly at the Brøndums Hotel.
Comboyuro Point Light, which was also known later as Comboyuro Light, was located on Comboyuro Point, at the northwestern tip of Moreton Island. It is one of the Moreton Island lighthouses.
Skagen Odde, also Skagens Odde, sometimes known in English as the Scaw Spit or The Skaw, is a sandy peninsula which stretches some 30 km (19 mi) northeast and comprises the northernmost area of Vendsyssel in Jutland, Denmark.
Højen or Gammel Skagen on the west side of Skagen Odde is an old fishing community which now forms part of the town of Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark. It has a permanent population of about 30.
Skagen Lighthouse, also known as Skagen's Grey Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse four kilometres northeast of Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark. Designed by architect Niels Sigfred Nebelong, it was brought into operation on 1 November 1858.
Skagen's White Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse just north of the town of Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark. It was operational from 1747 to 1858 when it was replaced by Skagen Lighthouse.
Skagen Bunker Museum is a private museum near the tip of Grenen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark. It is located in an old German bunker of the Regelbau 638 type which was used during the Second World War as an infirmary for treating wounded soldiers. It is now fitted out as a small museum with uniforms, weapons and other artifacts.
Hulsig Church is a church located in the village of Hulsig, 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Skagen in the far north of Jutland, Denmark.
Sletterhage Lighthouse is located in Denmark on the southern tip of the Djursland peninsula protruding into the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden at the entrance to the Baltic Sea. The concrete lighthouse was built in 1894 to help guide ships to and from the Port of Aarhus, via a shipping lane that passes close to the lighthouse isthmus.
Nakkehoved Lighthouse was originally the name for two individual lighthouses above the namesake Nakkehoved cliffs, between Gilleleje and Hornbæk, approximately 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Since the eastern lighthouse was decommissioned in 1898, the name Nakkehoved lighthouse has come to refer to only the western tower, which is still operational. The eastern lighthouse was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1976. The western lighthouse was also listed on the registry in 2002.
A fire basket is an iron basket in which wood can be burned to make a bonfire. Fire baskets have been used since antiquity mainly to illuminate and heat rooms. Today, they are most often used in an outdoor garden area as an outdoor heater or grill. The fire basket primarily is used to contain firewood, or another fuel, and is meant to offer fire protection.
