Campen Lighthouse, Steel lighthouse in Krummhörn, Germany
Campen Lighthouse is a free-standing steel lattice tower with a triangular cross-section, rising 65.3 metres from behind trees near the Ems estuary. Its red framework braces a central white cylinder banded in red, topped by a red gallery and lantern room with a green roof. Inside, a stair shaft runs up the middle; the tower weighs around 300 tonnes.
Campen Lighthouse was planned from 1883 as one of five guiding lights in a German-Dutch project to light the Lower Ems, with costs shared by Prussia and the Netherlands. Construction began in 1889 and was finished in 1890; the tower entered service with the other four lights on 1 October 1891. It was Germany's second electrically operated lighthouse, after the one on Borkum.
The lighthouse marks the skyline of Krummhörn and serves as a landmark that locals point to when describing their region. Visitors come regularly to enjoy the views and understand the seafaring history that shaped this coastal area.
Visitors can climb a spiral staircase with about 300 steps to reach a viewing platform with views over Krummhörn, the island of Borkum, and the surrounding North Sea landscape. The climb requires average physical fitness, and once at the top you get a full view in all directions.
Inside the lighthouse sits Germany's oldest working diesel engine, a 20-horsepower MAN model from 1906. The engine once powered electricity generation for the lighthouse and represents an early example of industrial machinery still in existence today.
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