The west coast of Jutland is a long stretch of sandy beach without many notable landmarks. This has traditionally made it difficult to navigate along the coast. The trouble is enhanced by the fact there is many treacherous areas with shallow water where the ships could run on ground. Thousands of ships have been lost along the coast during the last few hundreds of years. Some places are more dangerous than others – and these places were some of the first where you built light houses.
The first lighthouses did help a lot but there was a lot of stretches of the coast which didn’t have any light house and during the night the ships ran the risk of drifting too close to the shapeless landscape. One of these dangerous places was at Lyngvig which was at the midpoint between Blåvand Huk lighthouse in the south and Bovbjerg lighthouse in the north. It left more than 100 kilometers without a lighthouse.
Not surprisingly this long dark stretch of land meant trouble for some ships. In 1903 a Norwegian freighter ran aground just outside Lyngvig and the Norwegian government contacted the Danish government asking for something to be done. After a while the decision was made a lighthouse should be constructed at Lyngvig. It only took a few years and in 1906 the lighthouse was ready to guide the ships along this area. The lighthouse was sending the light out at sea without interruption until 1940 when the German occupying forces ask for the light to be shut. Fortunately light reappeared in 1945 after the war.
Today the lighthouse is a museum and you can enjoy the view from the top – when it is open. We had to enjoy the view of the lighthouse from the sand dunes around the lighthouse and the look at the beach behind the sand dunes. There are great views of the area here at the sand dunes since they are pretty high around the lighthouse which gave it a little bit of extra elevation.
If you are driving along the west coast of Jutland it is worth stopping by the lighthouse for a little break to see it and enjoy the views.