Lighthouses

One of the most characteristic of the monumental buildings in Hel is the lighthouse.
The town had a harbour so a warning navigational light was lit since medieval times in the vicinity of the fore-land.
After 1647 a special wooden crane was built with a pot for coal hung upon it. From 24 August until 3 May the firelight showed the way for the sailors.

A brick lighthouse was erected during the years 1806-1826.
It was a round tower, painted white, 41,7 meters high.
The lighthouse was pulled down on 19 September 1939, since it aided Nazis in focusing gun-fire. The existing lighthouse was built in 1942. It is a red, oval, brick tower.

Another old lighthouse which functioned in the year 1872, was replaced with the lighthouse named Mountain of Swedes (The Swedish Mountain). A lighthouse with electrical light started to function in 1936. A name of the plateau, upon which the lighthouse was erected, originates probably from 4 September 1628, when two Swedish ships 'Akilles' and 'Kristina' ran aground during the storm in this region.

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