Lighthouses are much more than navigational signs guiding ships. They testify to technological change, the development of industrial culture, regional history, and people’s efforts to control and understand the power of the sea. This year’s International Lighthouse Day program in Nida invites you to look at the Nida lighthouse, which has accompanied ships since Urbo Hill, and the lesser-known history of the Curonian Lagoon lighthouses.
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The biography of the Nida lighthouse is unique – it can be said to have two lives. The first began in 1874 with the construction of the old Nida lighthouse and ended at the end of World War II. The second began in 1953 when the 29-meter-high lighthouse, still standing on Urbo Hill, was built.
Today, the Nida lighthouse is not only one of the most prominent landmarks of the Curonian Spit landscape but also the only Lithuanian lighthouse belonging to the European Route of Lighthouses (European Route of Lighthouses). This international cultural route connects 145 lighthouses from 13 European countries – from Norway to Portugal. Its goal is to preserve the history of lighthouses, promote their recognition, and seek sustainable ways to preserve and give meaning to this unique navigational and industrial heritage in the future. The Nida lighthouse in this network becomes Lithuania’s maritime heritage ambassador in Europe.
“Lighthouses today are not only tourist attractions but also navigational signs that have not lost their importance – a living part of industrial culture and maritime heritage. Through their history, we can tell about technological progress, people’s daily lives, and the multi-layered history of the Curonian Spit and the entire region,” says Dr. Lina Motuzienė, head of the Neringa Museums.
The International Lighthouse Day program will begin at the Lighthouse Keeper’s House (Švyturio St. 1, Nida). Visitors will find educational and informative activities here, tours to the Nida lighthouse, and Klaipėda University historian Associate Professor Dr. Nijolė Strakauskaitė will give a lecture titled “When Lights Ignited in the Lagoon: The History of the Curonian Lagoon Lighthouses,” inviting a look at the lighthouse network as an important part of the Curonian Lagoon’s navigation, modernization, and cultural landscape.
In the evening, the lighthouse theme will be expanded with an artistic story about human light: at 7 p.m., the interdisciplinary performance “Alphonso Lingis. Contact,” presented by Bottlenecks, will take place at the Thomas Mann Memorial Museum. Documentary film, live music, and shadow theater will merge into a coherent stage story about the Lithuanian-American philosopher.
At 9 p.m., the European countries’ film forum “Scanorama” will present director Juho Kuosmanen’s film “The Silent Trilogy” at the Curonian Spit History Museum (Pamario St. 53, Nida).
And at 10 p.m., as night falls, the light of the old Nida lighthouse will symbolically return – the historic Fresnel lamp will be lit. The beam rotating until midnight will once again caress the night sky of the Curonian Spit and become the climax of the celebration – a reminder of the light that has been an inseparable part of Nida’s history and landscape for more than a century and a half.
The detailed program of International Lighthouse Day in Nida is available on the Neringa Museums website www.neringosmuziejai.lt.
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