Fat Berta (lighthouse)
The big Berta is a beacon in Cuxhaven-Altenbruch . The listed lighthouse at the mouth of the Elbe was in operation as a lower light from 1897 to 1983; the associated upper fire, Slim Anna , no longer exists.
location
The lighthouse stands - today - in the landside embankment of the dike, which is about 1 km north of the settlement area of the Altenbruch district on the left bank of the Elbe, which flows here from west to north-west into the Wadden Sea. Access is via Döschers Trift . To the west of the tower there is a lock in the dike, which is not navigable, and which controls the water level of the Altenbruch Canal coming from the south, which continues in Altenbruch Harbor, which is subject to the sea tide and is used by sailing boats .
As a natural-compensation area for an extension of the Cuxhaven port of about 3 was the start of construction in 2011 ha large landscaped park Altenbruch west built the canal and south of the dike. A water area with two islands communicates with the canal and with the Wadden Sea via its own lock. About 300 m north-west of the lighthouse, also significantly lower than the top of the dike, in the park is the 10 m high Altenbruch Deich observation tower , built in 2014, with the upper platform about 5 m high.
history
The twin towers of the Altenbruch St. Nicolai Church were noted on nautical charts as the first navigation mark or landmark in this area .
Due to the changing shoals, currents and changes in direction, the mouth of the Elbe at Altenbruch was considered a difficult fairway, and warnings were issued against sailing in at night until around 1826. Since the already existing lighthouses on Neuwerk, the Hamburg lighthouse in Cuxhaven and the beacons and blüsen no longer met the requirements of seafaring at the end of the 19th century, three new lighthouses were built in 1897, the "Slim Anna" in Osterende Groden as an overhead fire with the Underfires in Neufeld and Altenbruch. The lighthouse built at the Altenbruch harbor entrance was put into operation on November 25th.
In 1914 there were changes in the fairway, as a result of which the lighthouse in Altenbruch was no longer in the right place. It had to be moved a few meters in the years 1915-18. How this was done is not known, only that the tower got its current appearance during this work.
On May 2, 1919, the tower was put back into service and from then on it was popularly known as "Big Berta".
From 1968 the beacons on the Lower Elbe were modernized or rebuilt in order to get by with new technology and automatic operation without a lighthouse keeper.
In 1983 the beacon on the tower that was last used as a cross- branding light was extinguished.
When it was decommissioned, this beacon became a foreign object in the dike, which meant that the steel tower was to be scrapped. The resistance of the Altenbrucher and the possibility of guaranteeing the dike security with a ring of stones around the tower base made this plan unnecessary. On August 18, 1983, the Lower Saxony administrative office in Lüneburg placed the tower under a preservation order . To maintain the lighthouse, the Förderverein Dicke Berta e. V. , whose members restored the 13 m high black and white lighthouse. Since 2002 the tower can be visited from Easter to September. The registry office in Cuxhaven regularly holds weddings there.
In 1998–99 the dike was raised. Until then, the "Big Berta" stood on the crest of the dike. Since the new dykes on the Elbe have a sand core, the seaward flank of the dyke was shifted by a few meters, the middle was filled with fine rinsing sand from the Elbe and given a bran coat. Today the tower stands on the inland flank and about three meters below the top of the dike.
Technical specifications
Fat Berta is a riveted white, round tower with a black lantern.
- Visibility: about 12.5 sm
- Tower height: 13.00 m from the base to the top of the roof
- Height of the base to the walkway: 8.40 m
- Fire height: 10.00 m
- Steps: 41
- Tower diameter: 4.25 m
- Foundation diameter: 5.30 m
- Height of foundation: 4.90 m
- Air tank for driving the otter aperture:
- Diameter: 660 mm
- Length: 2580 mm
- Contents: 750 liters
- Optics: belt lamp 200, 250 or 400 mm.
- Main light source:
- Petroleum incandescent light (dismantled)
- since 1927: incandescent lamp , 300 and 500 W in front of concave mirror
- Replacement light source: 1 hanging propane gas incandescent lamp
- Identifier: Otterblende (s), driven by a mercury motor
Picture gallery
The gas emergency light
The lighthouse keeper's room
The old power supply
Compressed air tank
Fat Berta at Altenbruch Harbor
Web links
- Homepage of the Friends' Association
- Altenbruch lighthouse (Dicke Berta) at Leuchttürme.net
Coordinates: 53 ° 50 ′ 8.9 ″ N , 8 ° 46 ′ 16.9 ″ E