Lighthouse Warnemünde is a lighthouse situated on the estuary of the Warnow river in Warnemünde, a district of the city of Rostock. The Lighthouse has a height of 36.9 metres (121 ft) and was put into service in 1898.
In 1862 it was decided to substitute the old 8 m high stormlamp in Warnemünde by a new lighthouse. The construction of the lighthouse was officially approved already 1863, however, in consequence of the deep disagreement between the financiers: the town Rostock, the district administrator (estates of the country: parliament of patricians and knights) and the railway of Mecklenburg (the latter as owner of the ferry boat traject traffic to Gedser since 1886) the realization of the project started only 1897. The commissioning started one year later at October 1998. The building was planned and erected by the director of harbour construction: Friedrich Kerner.
33 posts were piled 11 meters deep into the earth to give the fundament. The lighthouse has two cellars and the part above the earth is 31 m high and built by glazed white brickstones and some bands of green bricks. The tower carries two galleries used as panorama sight for visitors. In the first time the lighthouse lamp used petroleum and later gas for producing the light. In the beginning the rotating Fresnel lens assembly was propelled by a clockwork, driven by a heavy iron weight gliding down a steel tube in the center of the tower. Every evening the lighthouse keeper had first to pump up 90 liter of petroleum to a tank on the top and then to crank up the weight every two hours. Since 1927 it operated electrically. The angle of the light ranges over 180 ` and is collected by mirror reflectors on the other, the country side. The light can be seen still in a distance of about 20 nautical miles (37 km). The light characteristic or the light pattern, which enables the identification of the fire, is: 0,3 fl. -2,7 dark -0,3 fl. -2,7 dark -0,3 fl. -8,7 dark -0,3 fl. -8,7 dark. Every sequence lasts 24 seconds.
The lighthouse can be climbed by a granitic spiral staircase. Up to 1978 the lighthouse was watched by a lighthouse keeper. Now the service is centralized and will be managed by Sea Traffic Control Center at Hohe Düne.
In the sixties of the last century the walls of the lighthouse showed some fissures. Thus 1969 a restoration was started which however could be finished only 1993. Since that time the lighthouse is again open for visitors climbing to the top, today a matter of high importance for tourism.
At Warnemünde exists a very active group of peoples unified in the Warnemünder Leuchtturmverein. Mainly its members are coaching the tourists unsalaried.
Each year a large lighthouse show with laser light and music is celebrated on New Year´s Day. The name of the event is "Lighthouse in Flames", and attracts some 100,000 people.
On the poster of the film Shutter Island the Warnemünde lighthouse is seen.
