Finland - Lighthouses

Finland has coastlines facing south on the Gulf of Finland and west on the Gulf of Bothnia, both arms of the Baltic Sea. Finland also administers the Åland Islands (Ahvenanmaa), an archipelago at the junction of the two gulfs. After centuries of rule by Sweden, Finland was conquered by Russia in 1809 and became an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire. The country declared its independence from Russia in 1917, at the start of the Russian Revolution. Finland has a large number of lakes and inland waterways, and there are lighthouses on many of the larger lakes. I am indebted to Michel Forand for researching and locating many of these lights. Unfortunately, we have no light list for the country's inland waterways, so data on the characteristics of the lights is not available. No doubt there are more lighthouses to be discovered on Finnish lakes. Coastal lighthouses in Finland are maintained by the Finnish Maritime Administration (Merenkulkulaitos), and the agency also maintains the lights of inland waterways. The Finnish word for a lighthouse is majakka (plural majakat). Swedish is a second official language in Finland, and some of the lighthouses are commonly known by their Swedish names.

The lighthouse at the top Left is the famous one named Uto. It figured on a 1946 stamp that was issued to commemorate the Pilotage Services of Finland. Those interested may kindly refer to my blog http://letstalkstamps.blogspot.com. The one ot Top Right is the lighthouse at Porkkala, by the name of Ronnskar. The one shown at the Lower left side is at Kirkkonummi, is situated on a small little rocky island called Kallbådan. This lighthouse was finished in 1920. The material of the lighthouse is reinforced concrete. Originally there were rooms for two lighthouse keepers, engine room, sauna, kitchen and tank for freshwater. There was also some kind of a foghorn. The lighthouse was a part of Porkkala area that was leased to the USSR from 1944 to1955. The lighthouse was in very bad condition after this time. Lighthouse keepers did not live there any more after this period. Men from lighthouse Rönnskär took care of Kallbådan. Nowadays Kallbådan has a remote control from Rönnskär. The island Kallbådan is a seal protected area and that’s why no one is not allowed to go to the island without permission. These paintings on the cards are all by the artist Pekka Vehvilainen. And these pretty cards were sent to me by my friend Merja.