Leuchtturm Gellen

The Leuchtfeuer Gellen stands on the southern tip of Hiddensee island in the Baltic Sea. It is a white steel tower with a red gallery, lantern and roof, built on a base of rough-hewn stone. The structure rises 12.30 metres above mean water level and its light can be seen for 10 nautical miles. It serves as a leading light to guide vessels through the Gellenstrom channel. The tower replaced earlier aids first recorded in the 14th century. A small lighthouse called the Luchte once stood nearby, its four-metre walls still visible at low tide. By the late 19th century growing shipping traffic demanded a fixed light, so in 1905 construction began using designs by Julius Pintsch. Completed in 1907, it originally burned gas before switching to electricity in 1936. Wartime damage in 1945 was repaired by 1949, and the tower has been maintained ever since. Visitors reach the site along a narrow path across the Gellen’s flat grassland. The tower’s red lantern sits 10 metres above water, its light flashing every few seconds. The surrounding coastline is wild and sandy, with shallow waters and shifting sandbanks. The view stretches across the Baltic to Rügen on clear days.