In the Eierlandse Gat, off the coast of Texel, many ships have been wrecked over the centuries. While there were lighthouses on Terschelling and in Den Helder at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Texel only had a wooden beacon. This was clearly insufficient; between 1848 and 1860 no less than 72 ships perished off the Texel coast.
The Texel notary Johannes Ludovicus Kikkert argued passionately for a lighthouse at the northern tip of Texel in order to protect the sailors. He lobbied in The Hague and used his influence as an alderman of Texel and as a member of the Provincial States of North Holland. Thanks to his efforts of many years, the construction of the lighthouse was started in 1863. The designer was Quirinus Harder, who also designed many other Dutch lighthouses. This lighthouse is the only brick tower which he designed; the others are made of cast-iron. The lighthouse was built on a dune 20 metres high. The nine-storey tower was completed in 1864, and Kikkert was allowed to light it on 1 November of that year. The tower was severely damaged during the Georgian uprising in April 1945. It was restored in 1948 by covering it with a new wall and placing a new superstructure. This changed the shape of the tower: it became much wider.
I'm 56 years old and I love to read and photograph. I don't have a special photography interest; I like a lot of subjects and so it's worthwhile to photograph. (Extreme) macro I really like to do, but I don't do stacking and I also edit as little as.. Read more…