Westerheversand Lighthouse in Westerhever, Germany

Westerheversand Lighthouse in Westerhever, Germany

© Sandra Bartocha/Minden Picture

A guiding light. Westerheversand Lighthouse

The Milky Way peeks out from behind the beams of light sent out by Germany’s Westerheversand Lighthouse, the real star of today’s homepage. This beacon looms 130ft (40m) over the Wadden Sea, which forms the world's largest tidal flat along the Dutch, German and Danish coasts.

This soggy low country was once prone to deadly flooding but, over time, locals have moved earth and sea to reinvent the coastline with dikes, causeways and artificial islands. Thousands of species of seabirds, shellfish and other lifeforms now thrive here in this Unesco-recognised biosphere.

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