Lighthouses of Russia: Kaliningrad

In addition to the coast of the St. Petersburg region, Russia has a second western coastline on the central Baltic in Kaliningrad. At the end of World War II, the Potsdam agreement of 1945 partitioned the German territory of East Prussia, assigning the southern half to Poland and the northern half to the Soviet Union. The Soviets changed the name of the principal city in their new territory from Königsberg to Kaliningrad and organized the territory as the Kaliningrad Oblast (province) of the Russian Federation. When the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, Kaliningrad became, in effect, a Russian colony on the Baltic, separated from the rest of Russia by the newly independent nations of Lithuania and Belarus. In the Soviet Union, most or all of the Kaliningrad Oblast was closed to foreign visitors. Conditions have become much more free, and tourism is encouraged. However, we have little or no information on the accessibility of lighthouses. Photos and visitor reports would be welcome. Curly braces {} enclose the former German names of the light stations. Russian lighthouses are maintained and operated by the Russian Navy, although some of them have civilian keepers. The Russian word for a lighthouse is mayak. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume C of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 116. What's Hot: General Sources Leuchttürme der ehemaligen deutschen Ostgebiete Postcard views of historical German lighthouses in Kaliningrad posted by Klaus Huelse.

Baltiysk Range Rear Light, February 2006 Creative Commons photo by Paul Philippov

Lighthouses

* Baltiysk Range Rear {Pillau Oberfeuer} (2)

1813 (station established at least by 1741). Active; focal plane 30 m (98 ft); white light, 9 s on, 3 s off. 33 m (105 ft) round brick tower with lantern and double gallery. The upper half of the lighthouse, including the lantern, is painted red and the lower half white. Paul Philippov's photo appears above, Wikipedi has a photo, a 2007 closeup is available, and Google has a satellite view. Baltiysk, the former German seaport of Pillau, is now the westernmost city in Russia, and a statue of Tsar Peter the Great stands in front of the lighthouse. The city straddles the narrow inlet from the Baltic to Vislinskiy Zaliv (Bay). Lights are said to have been displayed here as early as 1562, and the 1813 lighthouse was about 20 m (66 ft) high. The front range light is now on a skeletal tower (shown in Alex Trabas's distant photo); the original front lighthouse was an 8 m (26 ft) cast iron tower. Located in the waterfront area in downtown Baltiysk. Site open, tower status uncertain; certain photos suggest the tower may be open for climbing at some times. ARLHS ERU-012; Admiralty C3100.1; NGA 7064.

Kaliningrad Channel

Date unknown. Active (?); characteristics unknown. Approx. 21 m (70 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower with central cylinder, lantern, and double gallery. Upper half of the lighthouse painted black, lower half white. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. We need information on this lighthouse, which is not listed by NGA or by the Admiralty. It probably carries a directional light guiding vessels westbound in the dredged channel from Kaliningrad city to Baltiysk. Located on a concrete pier near the southern entrance to the channel joining Vislinskiy Zaliv to the Baltic, about 800 m (1/2 mi) southeast of Baltiysk. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed.

* Obzornyy

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 54 m (177 ft); white light, 2 s on, 3 s off. 22 m (72 ft) round masonry tower, brick over a stone base, with gallery. The original lantern has been replaced by a short skeletal tower carrying a small modern lantern. The brick tower is painted in orange-red and white horizontal bands; the stone base is unpainted, and the skeletal tower is painted red. Google has a satellite view. Located on the coast a few kilometers south of Yantarny and about 35 km (22 mi) north of Baltiysk. Site apparently open, tower closed. ARLHS ERU-221; Admiralty C3255; NGA 7114.

Mys Taran {Brüsterort}

1846. Active; focal plane 54 m (177 ft); white light, occulting three times every 15 s. 29 m (95 ft) octagonal red brick tower with lantern and gallery. Tower is unpainted red brick; lantern and gallery painted yellow with black trim. Fog horn (one short and one long blast every 15 s). 2-story brick crew quarters building. A photo is available, Klaus Huelse has a historic postcard view of the lighthouse, and Google has a satellite view. Mys Taran is a prominent cape about 65 km (40 mi) north of Baltisyk, at the northwestern corner of the Kaliningrad region. Caution: there is another Mys Taran Light on the Sea of Okhotsk. Site status unknown. ARLHS ERU-023; Admiralty C3256; NGA 7116.

Mys Gvardeyskiy

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 50 m (164 ft); white flash every 4 s. 40 m (131 ft) square skeletal tower with central cylinder. Upper part painted black, lower part and cylinder painted white. No further details available, and no closeup photo, but a Google satellite view shows the tower is very close to the beach and perhaps vulnerable to erosion. Located on a prominent cape about 8 km (5 mi) east of Pionerskiy. Site status unknown. ARLHS ERU-214; Admiralty C3262; NGA 7128.

Lesnoy

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 44 m (144 ft); two white flashes every 9 s. 40 m (131 ft) square skeletal tower. The upper half of the tower is surrounded by a huge, drum-shaped daymark painted red with a white horizontal band. Another, closer photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Located just off the beach of the Curonian Spit about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Zelenogorsk; the Russian portion of the spit is now protected as the Kurshskaya Kosa National Park. Site status unknown, but probably open. Admiralty C3270; NGA 7130.

Rybackiy (Rybatschi) {Rossiten} (2)

Date unknown (station established 1867). Inactive. Approx. 25 m (82 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery. Klaus Huelse has a historic postcard view of the 1867 lighthouse, a short cylindrical tower attached to a 1-1/2 story keeper's house. No photo of the second tower is available. Station located on the Curonian Spit about 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Zelenogradsk and 20 km (13 mi) southwest of the lighthouse at Nida, Lithuania. Site status unknown. ARLHS ERU-228; Admiralty C3278.

Zalivino {Rinderort}

1889. Inactive. 15 m (49 ft) round cylindrical red brick tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-1/2 story keeper's house. A second photo is available. These are 1996 photos, and nothing is known about the current condition of this historic lighthouse. Located on a point of land on the south shore of the Kurskiy Zaliv (Curonian Lagoon) about 1.5 km (1 mi) northwest of Zalivino. Site status unknown. Admiralty C3290.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

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Posted May 22, 2005. Checked and revised May 8, 2008. Lighthouses: 8. Site copyright 2008 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.