Skagen's Vippefyr

It replaced an earlier parrot light (papegøjefyr) and served until 1747 when the White Lighthouse was brought into operation.

[1] In 1560, Frederick II of Denmark ordered his vassal Otte Brahe to establish lights at Skagen, Anholt and Kullen (in Sweden) to mark the main route through Danish waters from the North Sea to the Baltic.

[2] Initially wood and seaweed were used as fuel for the light, burnt on a tiled floor at the top of a wooden tower.

It was Jens Pedersen Grove from Helsingør who designed the vippefyr which consisted of a tipping mechanism where the coal could be burnt in an iron container hoisted up into the air so that it could be seen from afar while avoiding damage to the wooden structure.

It is lit once a year for the midsummer festivities on Sankt Hans Aften when a bonfire also burns on the beach.