Air raid lamp
An air protection lamp is a filament lamp with low electrical power and a blackened glass bulb. There is only a light outlet with a diameter of approx. 2 cm on one side. The typical output of such a lamp is 8 watts at 220–240 volts.
The air raid lamp comes from the time of the Second World War . This light source, like beehive glow lamps , was used during the darkening requirement during air raids . Trained members of the Reichsluftschutzbund checked at night whether there was actually no more light coming out of the houses in order not to offer any visible targets to the approaching enemy . The minimum installation height of the lamp as well as the permissible number of air protection lamps depending on the size of the room can be found in the operating instructions. For example, one lamp of the Osram LS blue light incandescent lamp with identification number RL 3-42 / 145 could be used at a suspension height of 2 to 3 m and a room area of up to 25 square meters, two lamps up to 40 square meters and three lamps above . Furthermore, care had to be taken that no light was emitted beyond the horizontal, which would have been visible from aircraft. If it was found during inspection visits that a building was insufficiently darkened, a notice was attached to the building (see web links for an example). This was only removed when the darkening was sufficient.
Web links
- Osram LS (air protection) blue light incandescent lamp series Z "Sales according to (äß) §8 LG (Air Protection Act) approved; identification number RL 3-42 / 145", blue-painted light bulb for traffic areas that are opened to the street, possibly for so-called directional lights; and instructions for use, from 1943 jogis-roehrenbude.de, accessed October 5, 2017.
- The enemy sees your light! Darken! Contemporary poster requesting blackout, DPA, Sander Herweg (?, Unsure)
- Ministerialrat Dr.-Ing. A. Löfken, Reich Aviation Ministry: Basic requirements for the blackout and further, a total of 10 articles, Ztschr. Gasschutz und Luftschutz , December 1939, pp. 321–348. - About basics, seeing, performing the darkening, public lighting, directional lights on streets, gas lighting, traffic, luminous colors, neutral states.