page_title: Lågskär
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lågskär / History
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Linienschiff "SMS Rheinland" Linienschiff "S.M.S. Rheinland" der Nassau-Klasse, Ansicht der Steuerbord-Seite
context_page_description: Lågskär is a small island within the Åland Islands archipelago of Finland. It belongs to the municipality of Lemland. It is situated about 24 kilometres south of Mariehamn in the Baltic's Sea of Åland. The main island of Lågskär measures 61 hectares in area. Rock stacks, sea cliffs and rocky shores are found along the coastline of the island.
  As a breeding ground for waterfowl, Lågskär has the status of an Important Bird Area and is frequented by ornithologists who use the Lågskär Lighthouse buildings during their stay. In the past, several vessels have sunk off the coast.
context_section_description: The earliest habitation on the island was linked to a cairn and a wooden beacon that existed on the island during the 1600s and 1700s. In the 1840s, when the first lighthouse was constructed to replace the beacon, there were 20–30 inhabitants comprising the families of the lighthouse keepers. In addition to rearing livestock, fishing, and hunting wildlife, the families ran a school for their children; a lighthouse society functioned at the time. The wooden lighthouse was remodeled into a stone structure which was destroyed during World War I. The existing lighthouse, built in 1920, introduced a rotating gas lighting device, noted as the first of its kind in the world.  After the lighthouse was automated in 1961, the lighthouse keepers vacated the island. It is uninhabited since.
  On 11 April 1918, the German Nassau-class battleship SMS Rheinland ran aground in heavy fog during World War I. In 1934 or 1935, the German vessel Frida sprang a leak and sank off Lågskär, but the crew survived.  On the evening of 21 October 1942, Finnish submarine Vesihiisi torpedoed and sank the Soviet S-class submarine S-7 near Lågskär.
caption: SMS Rheinland which ran aground in heavy fog here during World War I
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