1964: The Inauguration of a German Lighthouse

September 1, 1964

The Alte Weser Lighthouse in the northwestern region of what was then West Germany (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany) first went into service. This 125-foot (38-meter)-tall red tower with white horizontal bands is offshore from the estuary mouth of the river Weser, which is within the German Bight (a section of the southeastern area of the North Sea). The Alte Weser Lighthouse is one of several navigational aids that have been installed in the vicinity of Bremerhaven, a major port city in the German state of Bremen.

The Alte Weser Lighthouse was designed by engineer Andreas Carstens. Construction on this lighthouse began in 1961; it was built into a sand bed at a depth of 36.1 feet (11 meters) below mean sea level. The Alte Weser Lighthouse was operated by keepers until 1972, when it became automated.

In 1976, West Germany’s postal service Deutsche Bundespost issued a stamp depicting the Alte Weser Lighthouse. This orange-red stamp was jointly designed by graphic artists Paul Beer and Beat Knoblauch.

Photo Credit: Dietrich Lankenau (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license at

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)

For more information on the Alte Weser Lighthouse, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alte_Weser_Lighthouse

Additional information on lighthouses in the Bremerhaven area is available at https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/deu1b.htm