Eierland Lighthouse

Eierland Lighthouse
*Texel*
	Eierland Lighthouse
Location	Eierland; Texel; Netherlands
Coordinates	53°10′55.7″N 4°51′18.9″E / 53.182139°N 4.855250°E
Tower
Constructed	1864
Construction	brick tower
Height	34.7 metres (114 ft)
Shape	cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings	red tower and white lantern
Heritage	Rijksmonument
Light
First lit	1864
Focal height	53.2 metres (175 ft)
Intensity	2,850,000 cd
Range	29 nautical miles (54 km)
Characteristic	FL(2) W 10s
Netherlands no.	NL-2064

The Eierland Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the northernmost tip of the Dutch island of Texel. It is named for the former island Eierland.

History

The lighthouse was designed by Quirinus Harder and construction began on 25 July 1863. The lighthouse was built on top of a 20-metre high sand dune, and was lit on 1 November 1864. At that time, the distance from the lighthouse to the sea was 3 kilometres.

Initially the lighthouse had a kerosene lamp. The current (electrical) lamp is a 2000 watt Philips fluorescent lamp, producing 2.85 million candela, and the light is focused with a number of Fresnel lenses. It has two automatically engaged spare lamps.

The lighthouse was originally red, but in the course of time that colour faded to pink. In 1977 the tower was covered with a red plastic coating. Since 1982 the lighthouse is a Rijksmonument.

During the Georgian Uprising of Texel of April 1945 the lighthouse suffered heavy damage. It was repaired by constructing a new wall around it and a new upper-level construction. In this process the lighthouse lost two of its original nine storeys.

During the 1990s the lighthouse, including the very top and the lamp, was open for visitors. Closed for a while, it was reopened in 2009 and is accessible up to the sixth floor.