Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse (Rubjerg Knude Fyr) is located on the coast of the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 in Rubjerg, in the Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 municipality of Hjørring in northern Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. It was first lit on December 27, 1900. Construction of the lighthouse began in 1899.

The lighthouse is on the top of Lønstrup

Lønstrup

Lønstrup is a small town in northern Denmark, in Vendsyssel on the coast of Skagerrak. It is located in north Jutland, Hjørring Municipality and is an old fishing village, with a population of 545...

 Klint (cliff), 60 metres (196.9 ft) above sea level. Until 1908 it operated on gas which it produced from a gasworks on the site.

Shifting sands and coastal erosion are a serious problem. The coast is eroded on average 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) a year, which can be seen most clearly at the nearby Mårup Church

Mårup Church

Mårup Church was a Romanesque church located in Vendsyssel in Denmark's northern Jutland. The church was built on Lønstrup Klint, a cliff on the North Sea near the town of Lønstrup in the Hjørring municipality. The area is noted for its windswept landscape, constantly shifting sands and eroding...

which, when it was built around 1250, was 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) from the coast, but was dismantled in 2008 to prevent its falling into the sea.

The lighthouse ceased operating on August 1, 1968. For a number of years, the buildings were used as a museum and coffee shop, but continual shifting sands caused them to be abandoned in 2002. By 2009, the small buildings were severely damaged by the pressure of the sand and were later removed.

External links

• Rubjerg Knude Vendsyssel Historiske Museum, Hjørring, Denmark