Ulmener Maar-Stollen


Useful Information

Location: Straße am Jungferweiher, Campingplatz, 56766 Ulmen.
(50.2132699, 6.9802944)
Open: APR to OCT daily 6-22.
NOV to MAR daily 8-20.
[2024]
Fee: free.
[2024]
Classification: SubterraneaUnderground Museum GeoparkGeopark Vulkaneifel
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: yes
Bibliography:  
Address: Ulmener Maar-Stollen, Am Maar, 56766 Ulmen, Tel: +49-6592-951370, Fax: +49-2676-409500. E-mail:
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

24-APR-2023 tunnel opened to the public as museum.

Description

The Ulmener Maar-Stollen (Ulmener Maar tunnel) is a kind of underground geological museum. The tunnel is 126 metres long and varies greatly in width. It has been developed into a kind of geological museum, dedicated to the local Eifel volcanism. Due to its location between two maars, the geological structures of these maars can be seen in the tunnel. It is therefore not just a museum, but also a geotope.

The small town of Ulmen is located directly at the motorway exit of the same name and has two maars, volcanic craters in which there is a lake. Many of these maars are tourist destinations because they are quite unusual due to their round shape and crater walls. Typically, the lakes are closed and drainless, a hollow shape that has filled with rainwater. This also applies to the Ulmen maar, but not to the neighbouring Jungferweiher maar. The Jungferweiher maar on the other side of the motorway is less spectacular, it has no crater walls and looks more like a normal lake, and what is unusual is that it has an outflow, the Ulmener Bach. The name is therefore Jungferweiher, i.e. a pond and not a maar, and the fact that it is also called a maar today is a consequence of the Geopark. This stream used to be an economic factor, as the water was used to operate water mills. The tunnel was built to channel water from the Ulmen maar into the Jungferweiher so that it could flow into the Ulmen river and power the mills. The tunnel still has this function as a canal today, but as part of the production of drinking water.

The tunnel is quite unusual, as it is 4-6 m wide on the Jungferweiher Maar side for the first 23 m, but much narrower thereafter and is only around 70 cm wide. This means that wheelchairs and pushchairs can easily use it on one side, but not all the way through. The idea of opening the tunnel between Maar and Weiher to the public has been around for 20 years, but was only realised in 2022. It has been secured so that it can be visited without a helmet and without a guide. Guided tours for groups are offered by the Ulmen tourist information centre.