LHD_P12-13_PolandStilo_Final.
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In April 2000, a mobile phone equipment was installed beneath the lower gallery to improve
communication in the area. A crane was used to hoist and install three directional antennas
beneath the lower gallery. At the same time the crane was extended above the top of the
roof of the lantern room to facilitate inspection of its condition.
The Stilo Lighthouse was made accessible
to the public in 1992 and can be visited in
the summer months. Accompanied by a
member of the lighthouse staff, a visitor
can climb the 128-step steel ladder to the
top of the tower.
Walk the grounds of the lighthouse today
and you will often come across with the
lighthouse keepers, both male and female.
A particular attraction is meeting with
female lighthouse keeper Weronika Lozicka,
who is one of the few women lighthouse
keepers in Poland. She is married to
Romuald Lozicki, also a lighthouse keeper.
12 Lighthouse Digest
By Apoloniusz Lysejko
Although Poland is a large nation in
Central Europe and America has a gigantic
population of Polish descendants, it can be
safe to assume that very few Americans have
ever visited Poland’s historic lighthouses.
However, since 1980 contacts between
America and Poland have intensified. Poland
and the USA have become partners, not only
in the fields of politics and economics, but
also in culture. Despite the geographical
distance, exchange visits and the numerous
exhibitions and performance of artists of all
kinds are proof of that which testifies to the
mutual interest in each other’s countries.
Poland has over twenty surviving
lighthouses, of which, fifteen are still active.
Most of them, as examples of Poland’s
maritime heritage, are accessible to tourists,
and indeed in the summer months, visitors
flock to see them. Aesthetically pleasing,
most of Poland’s lighthouses are built of brick
or stone with only two of them constructed
with metal.
With the upcoming Centennial Celebration
of Poland’s Stilo Lighthouse, it is hoped that
Poland could attract some new tourists to view
their lighthouses and historic nation.
Construction of the Stilo Lighthouse in the
tiny seaside hamlet of Stilo in Choczewo
(Chottschow) began in 1904 under the
direction of the famous Prussian civil
engineer Walter Koerte and was completed
in 1906.
The main centennial celebration will
take place under the joint patronage of the
Polish Maritime Museum, the Society of
Friends of the Polish Maritime Museum, and
the commune of Choczewo on July 29,
2006. On this occasion, a special brochure
will be published and the Polish Post Office
will be issuing a special set of four postage
Lighthouse keeper Romuald Lozicki
stamps depicting Polish lighthouses.
July 2006
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2 3

1 The Stilo Lighthouse and other

buildings at the exact site where
they first appeared in 1915.

4
2 Visitors enjoying the Stilo
Lighthouse in 1918.

3 A vintage postcard associated

with the Stilo Lighthouse by the
Royal Berlin Technical Museum
SPECIAL WEB SITE POSTING FOR FULL STORY
Exhibition Hall in 1919. It shows a hall
in the museum with a display of model
The author has submitted a more in-depth
steam locomotive boilers and on a raised story to us about the Stilo Lighthouse, which
platform, a disc lens, cylindrical lenses and includes a detailed explanation of how the polit-
on the wall, photographs of lighthouses. ical situation in Europe complicated the building
of lighthouses. That story along with many
additional photographs and images can be found
4 The first Polish native lighthouse
keeper to serve at Stilo
on our web site at www.LighthouseDigest.com.

Lighthouse was Wojciech Jagusiak To Order First Day Covers

a corporal in the Polish Border Guard who If any of our readers are interested in ordering
served from 1945 to 1948. mint, stamped, First Day of Issue covers of
the Polish Lighthouse Stamps you can contact
the author Apoloniusz Lysejko via email at
apoliewa@wp.pl.
5 The Stilo Lighthouse was in oper-
ation throughout World War II and
came through the hostilities practi-
cally unscathed. However, it did sustain
some damage right at the end of the war
when an unidentified aircraft fired a few
rounds at it, smashing some of the lantern
panes. But the damage was not enough to
put the lighthouse out of action for long.
Following repairs, it came back into service
in April, 1946 and has been active without
interruption ever since.

Lighthouse Digest July 2006 13