The lighthouse was built in 1878 to improve the marking of the shipping lane into Kristiansand harbor.

In 1842, the Russian ship-of-the-line Ingermanland had collided with the Grønningen islet, leading to a catastrophe.

The current lighthouse sits on Grønningen, a bare islet in the Kristiansandsfjord, and it marks the eastern side of the main shipping channel that leads inland to the port of the city of Kristiansand.

The light sits at an elevation of 18.8 metres (62 ft) and it emits two white, red, or green flashes (depending on direction) every ten seconds.

The station was staffed until 1980 and in 1994, the entire facility was protected by law as a national monument.