First lit in 1900, the 23-meter-high lighthouse is perched on cliffs more than 60 meters high, nearly 200 meters above sea level. Time, coastal erosion, and sand dunes have taken their toll on the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse, leaving it just a few meters above the waterline.
Fearing the lighthouse could fall into the sea, the government will ban visitors from the site starting on August 14. Engineers will then begin efforts to move the lighthouse further inland, where they will dig into the ground and reinforce it with iron. By early November, visitors will be able to visit the lighthouse in a completely new setting, about 80 meters from the shore.
One of the most popular attractions in Denmark’s North Jutland region, located about a five-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Copenhagen, the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse welcomes around 250,000 visitors a year. Since its completion in the late 19th century, the lighthouse has been continuously covered in sand. In 1968, it ceased to function as a lighthouse and was converted into a museum and cafe. But even that phase came to an end in 2002, when Rubjerg Knude was abandoned completely because of the sand. During its abandonment, visitors could still walk on the dunes and climb to the top of the lighthouse, but there were no other facilities.
