Middelsgrund Fort Øst - Øresund, Denmark
Lighthouse category: beacon/sector Position: 55.719803N : 12.667275E Status: active Date: 1975 Designer: not known Tower height: 13 feet Construction: round, free-standing lantern, possibly of fibreglass or steel construction Colour scheme: red Focal plane height: 36 feet Characteristics: white, red and green sectors, occulting once every 5 seconds Foghorn: none Google map view: google map link |
If I find myself in a coastal town somewhere and discover there is a lighthouse nearby I can derive a lot of pleasure from going to see and photograph it. Similarly, if I'm on board a ship visiting a port for the first time, I will have done my research and, again, can get a lot of pleasure from identifying and photographing a lighthouse that I have previously seen only on the Internet or on a map. But, I often get even more satisfaction from finding a lighthouse in one of my photographs that I hadn't even noticed when I took the original image. This is just such a case. This small light is on the Danish island of Middelsgrund in the Oresund north of Copenhagen. Middelsgrund is an artificial island built largely using spoil from the excavations carried out in the construction of the Frihavn, the harbour of Copenhagen. It was built as a sea defence fort and, when finished, was the largest of its kind in the world. It continued as a military installation until 1984 and, in its latter years was the site of a Hawk SAM Battery. It is now used for a variety of purposes, business and recreaction, including a conference centre, and restaurant.
The photograph belows gives a wider view of the island itself. The light is just visible above and slightly to the right of the deck crane on the ship in the foreground.