Origins: Fire Beacons and Timber Structures
The earliest navigational markers on Poland's Baltic coast predate permanent lighthouse construction by several centuries. During the Hanseatic period, towns such as Gdańsk (then Danzig) and Kołobrzeg (Kolberg) maintained fire baskets and wooden platforms at harbour entrances to guide merchant vessels through shallow approaches. These were not permanent structures in the modern sense — they were maintained seasonally and relied on keepers employed by the local merchant guilds.
Documentary evidence from the fifteenth century describes fire beacons at the mouth of the Motława river in Gdańsk, used primarily during autumn trading seasons when fog and early darkness made navigation along the coast hazardous. Similar arrangements existed at Hel, where the peninsula's tip served as a natural reference point for vessels crossing the Bay of Gdańsk.
Prussian Administration and Systematic Construction
Permanent masonry lighthouses along the coastline of what is now Poland were built primarily during the period of Prussian and German administration, spanning roughly from the early nineteenth century to 1918. The Prussian state undertook a systematic survey of the Baltic coast and prioritised the construction of lighthouses at headlands and harbour approaches where vessel losses were frequent.
Rozewie — The Northernmost Point
The lighthouse at Rozewie, situated at the northernmost tip of mainland Poland on the Hel Peninsula's landward side, was completed in 1826. It was constructed in brick to a design typical of Prussian coastal engineering of the period: a tapered cylindrical tower with an enclosed lantern room at the top. The original optical apparatus used a catoptric reflector system. The tower was raised in height during subsequent decades as vessel drafts increased and mariners required greater range. Today it stands at 33 metres and remains an active aid to navigation under the authority of the Maritime Office in Gdynia.
Kołobrzeg and Świnoujście
The lighthouse at Kołobrzeg was established to serve the approaches to the Parsęta river mouth, a historically significant port in Pomerania. The current structure dates primarily from the second half of the nineteenth century, though earlier beacons occupied the same site. Świnoujście, at the western edge of Poland's coast, houses one of the tallest brick lighthouses in the Baltic region — a structure that was built in 1857 and rises to 64.5 metres. Its red and white banded tower is a recognisable feature of the port entrance.
The Interwar Period and Polish Administration
After the restoration of Polish statehood in 1918 and the settlement of borders following the Treaty of Versailles, Poland gained access to a short strip of the Baltic coast — the so-called Polish Corridor — with the port of Gdynia subsequently developed as the national maritime hub. Polish maritime authorities assumed responsibility for maintaining existing lighthouse infrastructure while constructing new navigational marks to support the rapidly expanding port at Gdynia.
The interwar period saw the establishment of the Urząd Morski (Maritime Office), which took on the administrative and technical functions previously held by German authorities. Maintenance records from this period indicate regular overhauls of optical equipment, with the transition from oil-lamp sources to acetylene gas systems at several stations.
Wartime Damage and Postwar Reconstruction
Several lighthouses along the Polish coast sustained damage during the Second World War. The Gdańsk Nowy Port lighthouse, which guards the main entrance to the Martwa Wisła channel, was among those affected. Postwar reconstruction prioritised restoring operational status rather than historical accuracy; some structures received simplified lantern rooms or revised tower profiles as a result.
By the 1950s, most active stations had been restored to operational condition under the administration of the People's Republic of Poland. Electrification of lighthouse lanterns proceeded gradually through the 1950s and 1960s, replacing gas and kerosene sources across the network.
External References
Detailed administrative records are maintained by the Maritime Office in Gdynia. Historical photographs and surveys of Polish lighthouses are documented at Latarnie.pl, a publicly accessible archive.