GERMANY - How's this for a lighthouse?

This is  the Obereversand lighthouse at Dorum-Neufeld north of Bremerhaven and there are a fair few stairs on this one, not to mention the height - I took a lot of deep breaths bringing you this!

The lighthouse originally stood about 12km out on the mudflats. The tide here goes out a long way. It was one of a pair of lighthouses that ships lined up to make a safe course into Bremerhaven. The lining up of the lighthouses meant that they were fixed lights so there is no mechanism inside for rotating the lenses to cause a flash. In 2003 it was relocated to Dorum-Neufeld, the pier and steps built and then it was opened up to the public. Guided tours are in German but I was given an English translation and in my broken German I managed to explain that I gave tours in a UK lighthouse so understood what it was all about. As this was offshore the keepers lived in the tower so the lower floor was a fuel store, (no electricity until it was relocated), then a domestic floor - kitchen and a built in bunk bed. The next floor was the watch room which also had two bunk beds and then the optic on the very top. The lighthouse has been restored to working order and now operates on much reduced power as the harbour light.

The area around Bremen and Bremerhaven is very flat and consequently the locals are really into bicycles. It was a 6km walk from the station at Dorum to the lighthouse but it was really easy due to the excellent network of cycle paths that you can also walk along. The coastal area is part of the Wattenmeer National Park. The scenery isn't dramatic cliffs but when I walked along the coast path in the afternoon the views were amazing in a completely different way and the wildlife on the mudflats especially the birds is part of the reason why it is a National Park.

Tomorrow I leave Bremen and head east but this part of Northern Germany is definitely on the list of places to return to.

I've added some better photo's on to yesterdays post as the sun came out in Bremen this morning to give some better images