The highlight on the dune

For more than a century Hörnum’s landmark lighthouse has guided ships through the navigable channel between Sylt and the neighbouring island of Amrum. Today it is one of the greatest eye-catchers and most popular photo motifs on the island.

The cast-iron tower, built on top of a dune, became operational on 8th August 1907. But in those days the lamp was lit manually with paraffin - it was not connected to the electrical grid until 1948. The last lighthouse keeper departed in 1976. Since then (like the other lighthouses on Sylt) the beam is remote-controlled, reaching more than 40 kilometres across the sea at a height of nearly 50 metres.

An interesting historical curiosity: between 1914 and 1933 Hörnum’s school occupied one room of the tower (where the white ring is sandwiched between two red). In what was then the smallest school in Germany, the local boys and girls enjoyed something that other pupils could only dream of: lessons with a sea view.