Rödkallen
 Rödkallen in winter. | |
| Location | Rödkallen, southeast of Luleå, Sweden |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 65°19′N 22°22′E / 65.317°N 22.367°E |
| Year first constructed | 1872 |
| Year first lit | 1872 |
| Automated | 1966 |
| Deactivated | 1972 (new light "South Rödkallen" nearby active) |
| Foundation | Iron |
| Construction | Iron |
| Tower shape | Conical skeletal tower |
| Markings / pattern | Red |
| Height | 21 m |
| Original lens | Parabolic mirrors |
| Current lens | Rotating 1st order Fresnel lens (1893) |
| Range | 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) |
Rödkallen is a small uninhabited (summer cabins are in use) Swedish island and lighthouse station located in the Bothnian Bay in the south part of Luleå archipelago. The island was used by fishermen a long time before the lighthouse was built. In 1800 a chapel was built for the fishermen and it survives to this day. The lighthouse was constructed after Nils Gustaf von Heidenstam's skeletal iron design. Originally it carried a colza oil lamp which was changed to a kerosene lamp 1884. In 1936 a small electric plant was built on the island which was used by the lighthouse. After one hundred years in service the old lighthouse was deactivated in favor of the small modern Rödkallen södra (south) light on the roof of a pilot station. The tall building has a yellow and red daymark. The station was closed down in 1981. A small hotel was started in the building in 2000, but it was closed in 2008. The old lighthouse is preserved and its large lens still mounted, covered with a shroud. In 2005 it was successfully tested for a while. On the island is also a couple of old stone mazes. Rödkallen is one of the many wind observation stations in the shipping news of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
References
- Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Sweden: Northern Bothnia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 28 August 2010.