Germany has two coastlines, one facing northwest on the North Sea and the other facing northeast on the Baltic Sea. This page lists lighthouses of the Baltic coast in Vorpommern, part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Before the creation of the German Empire in 1871, all of this region was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. From the end of World War II until the reunification of Germany in 1991, it was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Mecklenburg includes the western portion of this coast (the Wismar, Warnemünde, and Rostock areas), while Vorpommern (Lower or Western Pomerania) includes the eastern section from the Stralsund area to the Polish border. Interest in lighthouses is strong in Germany, and most of the towers are in good condition. A federal law provides blanket protection to historic lighthouses. There is concern, however, that many of the lights may be deactivated in the coming years as navigators depend less and less on them. In German, a lighthouse is a Leuchtturm ("light tower"), plural Leuchttürme. The front light of a range is the Unterfeuer and the rear light is the Oberfeuer. Modern range lighthouses are crowned by a topmark: a large, distinctive structure that serves to mark the range clearly in the daytime. Lighthouses in Germany are operated by the regional harbor authority, called the WSA (Wasser- und Schiffahrtsamt). The lighthouses on this page are managed by WSA Stralsund. The WSA's are linked to and regulated by a federal agency, the Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (WSV). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume C of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from NGA Publication 116. |
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Vorpommern - Rügen District Lighthouses
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![]() Gorch Fock I and Harbor Entrance Light (right), Stralsund, June 2013 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Klugschnacker |
Vorpommern - Greifswald District Lighthouses
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Lighthouse Relocated Inland
Information available on lost lighthouses: Notable faux lighthouses:
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![]() Vierendehlgrund Light, Fürstenwalde, September 2008 Panoramio Creative Commons photo by Peter Dargatz |
Adjoining pages: North: Sjælland Region | East: Swinoujscie Area | West: Mecklenburg
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Posted April 9, 2005. Checked and revised March 20, 2017. Lighthouses: 44; lightships: 1. Site copyright 2017 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.