Brandaris


For the mountain on Bonaire, see Brandaris, Bonaire
The Brandaris is a lighthouse on the Dutch Wadden Sea island Terschelling, in Friesland. It is the oldest lighthouse in the Netherlands, listed as a Rijksmonument, number 35032 and rated with a very high historical value.

History

The first tower was built in 1323 to guide ships on their way to Amsterdam, through the Zuiderzee, the narrow opening between Vlieland and Terschelling. A good position marking was necessary because many islands in the North Sea look very similar.
When the sea flooded Terschelling in 1570 the tower was completely destroyed. In 1592 the construction of a new tower was started, but it collapsed before it was finished because bad building materials had been used. The current tower was built in 1594.
In 1837 the tower was the first lighthouse in the Netherlands to be equipped with a rotating Fresnel lens. Electrification took place in 1907. Today, the light in the tower is controlled fully automatically.

Description

Brandaris is the oldest preserved tower specifically built as a lighthouse in the Netherlands. In 1907 it was the first lighthouse in the Netherlands to be fitted with electric lighting. Brandaris is specially equipped to prevent birds from flying against the tower.
Construction period1593-1594
Tower height54 metres
Height of the circular beam light55.5 metres
Range of light52 kilometres
Luminous intensity3,500,000 candela
Materialyellow stone
Listed yes, since 1965
Radaryes, since 1979
Manned?yes, around the clock
Open to the public?no

Name

The name of this tower may be a reference to Saint Brendan of Clonfert.
There is also a Dutch rolling tobacco brand, classified as heavy, containing 12mg of tar and 1.3mg of nicotine per 750mg of tobacco.