NIDINGEN is an island in the Kattegat. The Danes built a lighthouse here in 1624. Not until 1946 when the 23.5 m high concrete lighthouse was inaugurated did Nidingen's old typical profile disappear: twin towers.

At SANDHAMMAREN off the southern coast of Skåne there are treacherous sand banks. In 1862 two red iron towers were erected here. The inner lighthouse was dismounted in 1908, but the outer one is still in use, 29.4 m high.

The peninsula of Rådmansö off Norrtälje is the easternmost mainland in central Sweden. In 1839 the 21 m high white tower with a red belt was built, and the name SÖDERARM was coined.

In the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia there is a treacherous bank, the Vernersgrundet. In 1862 a lightship was moored here called Sydostbrottet, later SYDOSTBROTTEN. In 1963 the ship was replaced by a lighthouse of caisson type.
 

On November 17, 1969, the Swedish Postal Administration issued two new commemorative stamps in the values of 30 ore and 55 ore to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the first Swedish lighthouse. They are supplied only in coils.
The stamps show four phases in the evolution of lightships and lighthouses: An old vertically-swinging lever light; the first Swedish lightship, "Falsterbo rev" which was put out to sea in 1844; the Landsort lighthouse; and the Svenska Bjorn lighthouse, in service from 1968.
Designer: The Swedish artist Gordon Macfie
Print: Three-colour photogravure on fluorescent paper
Harrison & Sons Ltd in London

It was in 1669 that for the first time a Royal decree was issued for the setting-up of a Swedish lighthouse - at Landsort. At that time there were already several lighthouses in the country. They had become Swedish when the provinces of Bohuslän, Halland and Skåne became part of Sweden. The oldest lighthouse activity in the present territory of Sweden dates from a concession in the early 1100s to monks for keeping fires burning at Falsterbo foreland.
One of the men who gave Swedish lighthouse engineering international fame was Jonas Norberg - Christopher Polhem's pupil. In the eighteenth century he improved the wick-burning lamp and was the first to use movable mirrors to increase the brightness of lighthouse illumination. In the early 1900s, Gustaf Dalen achieved world-wide renown with his inventions; principally the group-flashing apparatus for gas-burning lighthouses, and the unattended light with a sun-valve. The well-known AGA company, which further developed his ideas, today stands for first-class quality in lighthouse equipment allover the world.
In recent years the fully automatic caisson-lights built by the National Board of Shipping and Navigation have been replacing the expensive lightships.

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