Like most of the castles in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Landeck Castle was built in approximately 1200. It served probably the function of protecting the nearby Klingenmünster monastery. The first documental reference to Landeck Castle was made in 1237.
In the period around 1500 there were castle administrators from the Kurpfalz, the bishop of Speyer and the counts of Zweibrücken. At the end of the 15th century extensive work was done at Landeck Castle. During the Peasants’ War in 1525 it was damaged, but obviously quickly repaired.
In 1570 there was again a change in ownership. After the dying out of the Zweibrücken-Bitch lineage their share of the castle went to the Kurpfalz. It was not until 1709 that the Electors succeded in owning the entire property of Landeck Castle, when the Speyer bishopric gave up the remaining quarter by exchange. The Kurpfalz remained the only owner until the French Revolution. In the 1960’s the castle was extensively restored.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.