The Russian State Ministry of Maritime Affairs bought the Liepaja lighthouse project from the English company Chance Brothers (Great Britain, Birmingham). After two years of construction, which began in 1866, the lighthouse was opened and the light on its tower lit up on July 20, 1868. Workers from the A. Meinards factory in Liepāja took part of the wreck of a ship that was later used to build a lighthouse tower. The lights of the lighthouse were made in Great Britain at the Frankel factory, and it was a masterpiece in the field of optics of its time, which was unparalleled in the Baltics. The headlights were surrounded by conically ground glass circles, which periodically reduced and intensified the light. During the First World War, Russian troops took the lighthouse mechanism with them when they retreated. In turn, in 1915, during the German occupation, the Liepāja lighthouse got a new light and became the first lighthouse in Latvia, where electric lighting was started to transmit signals. At present (the lighthouse lamp made by the Berlin company Julius Pintsch in 1915) is in the collection of the Liepāja Museum. Originally, the lighthouse was continuously painted red, and it was until the end of the 19th century when it was painted in the red-white-red circles we are familiar with. During the First World War, the lighthouse was badly damaged during the shooting of the German Navy cruiser Augsburg - 16 shots were fired at the lighthouse tower. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1922 and, as can be read in the press of that time, iron plates were used in the rebuilding, which were cast and melted from the bullets of Swedish ships and cannons found on the shore of Skede. After the Second World War, the lighthouse was reconstructed and a hectophone (sound signal transmission device) was installed in the late 1940s. The signal intervals were regulated by a special relay, which transmitted the Morse signal, which denoted the letter L (Liepāja). In 1948, a circular radio beacon began operating, broadcasting the letters LB (Liepāja lighthouse (Baka from latvian - Lighthouse)). It should be noted that during the hurricane in the autumn of 1967, the fog sirens suffered greatly and were not rebuilt later, as they greatly disturbed the peace of the surrounding population. When turned on, they could be heard even in Grobiņa. Today there are no special supervisors in Liepāja lighthouse, as it used to be - it is controlled remotely and is fully automated.
