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Experience nature at its most intense with all your senses in a beautiful nature reserve. The island has many different shapes and seasons, no two days are the same.
In spring, when the island is covered in beautiful flowers and sweet smells waft over the rocks. In summer, when the wildlife and birds fill the air with the sounds of nature and the sunsets are like balm for your soul. During storms that make the walls creak and beautiful white wave foam flies around the island. And in the evening and at night, when the darkness is darker and the stars more sparkling than anywhere else. Experience the magical moonlight as it shines over the two seas, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, forming a strong moonlight outside.
Since time immemorial, seafarers have feared these waters. The name Pater Noster is Latin for Our Father, a prayer that has been recited by sailors countless times before the ships dared to approach the jumble of islands and islets that make up the treacherous Pater Noster skerries. Nearly a hundred islands spread out like a rosary from the south-western tip of Tjörn out to Hamneskär a nature reserve enriched with seabirds, seals, fish, seaweed and shellfish.
Here, at the edge of the sea, in one of Sweden's most rugged, windswept and exposed locations, Pater Noster - the king of lighthouses - was eventually built. A high-tech masterpiece that for more than a century would guide, save and give hope to seafarers.
In the shadow of its protective light, the lighthouse master families built their homes and created a miniature community on an island that had always been considered uninhabitable. Pater Noster's lighthouse keeper's residence has also housed castaways who - despite the lighthouse's guiding light - were wrecked by the strong sea currents and treacherous grounds. For more than a hundred years they lived out here, on the island's and the sea's terms.
The lighthouse Pater Noster was built in 1868 on the island of Hamneskär by the renowned engineer Nils Gustaf von Heidenstam, who was also responsible for developing a lighthouse system along the Swedish coast. Of a total of eleven lighthouses built, nine remain today.
The Heidenstam lighthouses, the so-called Heidenstammers, were designed as open iron pillar towers. The design was simple and ingenious. The lighthouse was built in sections, three to seven, and could thus be varied in height. Pater Noster has one storey more than the other lighthouses built by Heidenstam - hence Pater Noster is called the "king of lighthouses".
Pater Noster is the most famous and grandest iron lighthouse. It took 4 months to assemble Pater Noster and on November 1, 1868 it was lit with the help of lighthouse staff living on the island. The lighthouse staff consisted of 3 families: the lighthouse master, the lighthouse keeper and the lighthouse assistant with their wives and children.
In 1977, Pater Noster was extinguished and replaced by the caisson lighthouse Hätteberget. Pater Noster ended its service and had to be dismantled due to the wear and tear it had been subjected to in the harsh weather.
For more than 30 years, the non-profit association Friends of Pater Noster fought for its lighthouse and finally got help from other actors, such as private individuals, industry and finally the state, to have the lighthouse completely renovated.
In July 2002, Pater Noster was lifted from her foundation on a barge. After extensive renovation, great efforts and a large financial contribution, on July 4, 2007 she was lifted back onto her foundation on the island of Hamneskär. Today she shines for leisure and fishing boats and for all of us who love Pater Noster, all the way to the mainland and the surrounding islands.
If you don't suffer from vertigo, you're more than welcome to climb the 32-metre-high Pater Noster Lighthouse, where you'll have a great view of the island, the sea and the horizon.
Pater Noster is since 2015 a state building monument with a high cultural and historical value that we want to preserve and take care of. We want to recreate certain parts of the lighthouse environment, such as the old lighthouse gardens. We also wish to bring back the old foghorn cannons that once stood by the foghorn house.
The lighthouse environment is unique with its lighthouse tower, foghorn house, dwelling house, powder house, photo booth, boathouse and outhouse.
As West Coast natives, the five of us who run Pater Noster have a great love for this place. We aspire to highlight the history and life of the island as it has been for 150 years. We live and breathe the salty breezes, the fresh air and are inspired by the winds of history.
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At Pater Noster we naturally serve food with the sea as our main source of inspiration. Our kitchen specializes in daily fresh fish, world-class seafood and freshly harvested seaweed from Pater Noster.
We believe that seaweed has a big part to play in the future of food and here on the island you can experience some of the chef's love and passion for preparing dishes with seaweed as a raw material. Taste and learn about our good ingredients.
Our summer café can be visited spontaneously during July and August, see more information here.
We work with carefully selected partners, who can guarantee the high quality we want to convey to our guests, to make everyone's stay with us a memory for life.
At Pater Noster we care about your comfort and want to give you a good night's sleep. That's why we have chosen to have DUX beds in all our rooms. The Swedish-designed bed has one goal, to deliver deep, restful sleep with perfect comfort so that you wake up refreshed and ready for the next day's experiences on the island. To find out more about the full range of DUX beds and furniture, click onwards.
Over 70 years have passed since the Swedish founder of Tylö built his first sauna heater. With solid traditions in craftsmanship, long experience and pride in its heritage, Tylö offers unique sauna experiences - something that we at Pater Noster fell in love with and thought suited our genuine and unique archipelago environment particularly well.
We always think long-term and are constantly working to improve our sustainability work. A sustainability mindset is part of every decision we make in our operation. From an environmental, social and economic sustainability perspective. It's our wish and goal that both we and our guests make as little impact as possible on the environment and nature.
