Wolfsschlucht Porta Westfalica

Useful Information

Location:	Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal, Kaiserstraße 15, 32457 Porta Westfalica. (52.244541, 8.896018)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Rock Mine
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Rainer Ebel, Angela Ehling (2012): Der Porta-Sandstein. Geologie, Vorkommen, historischer Abbau und Verwendung in: Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL, Hg.), Geologie und Paläontologie in Westfalen (Heft 82), Münster 2012, S. 5-146. ISBN 978-3-940726-18-6. pdf Hans Morlo (2002): Die Wolfshöhle bei Porta Westfalica - Spuren alter Steinbrüche im Wittekindsberg, Speläologisches Jahrbuch 15/17. 1998/2000 (2002), S. 44-53 : Ill..
Address:	Wolfsschlucht Porta Westfalica.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1892-1896	Quarry briefly put back into operation for the construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm monument.
2006	Porta Westfalica declared a national geotope.
2020	Path through the Wolfsschlucht gorge closed by the regional forestry office.

Geology

The North German Plain is what geologists call a basin that was filled with around 4.5 km of sedimentary rocks during the Mesozoic era. At the very bottom is a thick layer of evaporites, anhydrite and salts. The pressure of the sediments above causes the salt to move very slowly, and as it is lighter than normal rock, it favours upward movement. In doing so, it follows faults and fissures in the rock. This so-called salt tectonics is responsible for the formation of diapirs, i.e. salt domes, and elongated structures along fissures, the so-called salt walls. The rocks above are always moved upwards, exposing them to weathering. Rocks that lie deep below the surface can be found here on the surface. The ridge of the Porta Westfalica is such a salt wall; it is typical that the ridge is quite narrow and runs very straight.

The rock on the ridge is sandstone from the Middle Jurassic or Dogger. The Porta sandstone is a medium to coarse-grained quartz sandstone with an intense brown, sometimes reddish colour. When fresh broken, it is blue-grey, yellowish and grey-greenish to brown. The brown colour is a result of the iron content.

Description

At the northern end of the Weserbergland (Weser Uplands), where the Weser leaves the low mountain ranges and flows into the North German Plain, is the Porta Westfalica, the Westphalian gateway. This is a ridge that runs in a strikingly straight line through the plain, called the Wiehengebirge and Weser Mountains, which is broken through at one point by the river, the Porta, a passageway that has been used for centuries by travellers. The Germanic tribes and the Romans already used this natural travelling route. A road was built through and later also the railway. However, the mountain ridge, which has been raised by salt tectonics, has various useful aspects: economically interesting rocks and mineral resources can be found here, so that quarries and mines were built here. Castles were built and springs were tapped. The place is also culturally significant: a bombastic Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal (Emperor Wilhelm monument) was erected here at the end of the 19th century, which is worth a visit for the view alone. The nearby mountain ridge contained sandstone that was well suited for use as building stone and was quarried in an elongated quarry, always following the stratum. The result of this quarrying activity is the Wolfsschlucht Porta Westfalica, a gorge-like, straight, abandoned quarry. It is therefore not a natural gorge, but an industrial monument. The name Wolfsschlucht (wolf gorge) was already popular in the imperial era, it was used even more frequently during the Nazi era and is now out of fashion. Nevertheless, there are plenty of wolf gorges, and there is a danger of confusion, so we use the name Wolfsschlucht Porta Westfalica.

Today, the Wolfsschlucht is a picturesque place, overgrown with vegetation and wildly romantic. A hiking trail has been running through it for a century. The Wolfsschluchtweg begins at the Kaiser Wilhelm monument and leads through the rugged southern slope of the Wittekindsberg to the Wittekindsburg. The name Wittekind goes back to Widukind and the legend of his Christianisation. The slope outside the abandoned quarry was difficult to cultivate, so there are many very old trees here, beech trees up to 180 years old. The regional forestry office does not manage the forest; the trees are left to their own devices, as is often the case nowadays, in the hope that the forest will eventually become as natural as possible. But this also has disadvantages: every now and then one of the ancient and decrepit trees dies, falls over and is left as it is. The ‘German’ way of dealing with something like this would be to remove the trees and cut down dying trees in good time before they fall over. This doesn't happen here, so the regional forestry office is somewhat overwhelmed by the situation and closed the path a few years ago for safety reasons. After all, they would be liable if a hiker was injured by a falling tree, and there are rules for that. As a result, the path is not signposted and is rarely used, but little can happen if you do use it. But of course the regional forestry office is not liable if a branch falls on your head.

In addition to the gorge with its rock faces, there is also the Wolfshöhle (Wolf's Cave). Just as the gorge is not a gorge, this cave is not a cave either. The cavity was created when the sandstone was quarried, the quarrymen followed the best qualities of the stone and so an underground chamber was excavated, which has two rectangular entrances. Above the entrances there is a layer of loose earth on top of the sandstone. This has fallen down over a long period of time, forming a kind of dam in front of the entrances, which must be overcome before the cave can be entered. The walls of the excavation show traces of work, mostly so-called chisel marks, i.e. diagonal lines cut with a chisel. The cavity is said to be connected to the Porta-Damme iron ore mine by a shaft which was later filled in. The cave is freely accessible, which unfortunately leads to people spending the night in it and making fireplaces. To protect the cave animals, we ask that you refrain from doing so.