Bengtskar Lighthouse

Bengtskar stands on a bare granite skerry in the outer archipelago south of Hanko, built in 1906 after a steamer ran aground nearby on New Year's Day 1905, and rising fifty-two metres above the sea it is the highest lighthouse in the Nordic countries. The tower is stone rather than steel, with the keeper's quarters built into the base and a chapel inside, and the light still operates. It was damaged in fighting during the Second World War and restored from the 1990s, since when it has been open in summer as a museum with a café and a small number of rooms for overnight guests, which is the only way to see the island empty. Seals and seabirds use the surrounding skerries.

History

A lighthouse on the Bengtskär skerry had long been planned, but the project became urgent after the steamer Helsingfors ran aground nearby on New Year's Day 1905, on her way from Lübeck to Helsinki, with two crew members killed and others trapped on board; the lighthouse was completed the following year, in 1906. Rising 52 metres above sea level, it is the highest lighthouse in the Nordic countries; it was badly damaged in 1941 during the Second World War, and it now receives roughly 13,000 to 15,000 visitors a year, with a few hotel rooms and a granite sauna (Wikipedia, Bengtskär Lighthouse).

What you'll find

• A stone tower fifty-two metres above the sea - the highest lighthouse in the Nordic countries.
• The chapel inside the building - the room within the lighthouse base.
• The lantern and the view - the outer archipelago from the top.
• Bare granite skerries - the rock and sea around the island.

When to go

June to August only; boats do not run outside the summer. A day. Crossings are cancelled in wind and swell, sometimes at short notice. Book ahead.

Things to know

The crossing takes over an hour each way in open water and is frequently rough or cancelled. There is no shelter on the island beyond the buildings. The tower stairs are steep and narrow. Time ashore is fixed by the boat.

Nearby

Hanko is north-east; the Archipelago Sea lies north.

Key facts