Glacial Scratches of Velpke

Traces from the Ice Age can be discovered here. The glaciers came from Scandinavia / Sweden 🇸🇪 and left scratches in the ground and stones 🪨.

The degradation of the Velpker Rhät sandstone was done since 1640 in numerous quarries. The stones were initially used for the restoration of churches, monasteries and fortifications destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. Later and to the present day, they mainly served as building material for representative buildings (eg Kohlmarktbrunnen and TU-building in Braunschweig). Except for one location, the dismantling of Rhät sandstones near Velpke came to a standstill after the Second World War for economic reasons. The last remaining quarry is nearing closure. The lower-lying abandoned quarries are now "flooded"; d. H. Over the decades, they have filled up with water because the groundwater level has not been lowered artificially.
These abandoned quarries, located to the west and northwest of Velpke and mostly under water, still offer informative insights into the depositional area of ​​the Upper Keuper. In them, water biotopes "second-hand" developed and develop with very special communities of plants and animals. Because of its beauty and peculiarity with the idyllic change of land and water, hills and valleys, forest and reeds this former quarry landscape is called "Velpker Switzerland".
It has been designated since 1969 as a landscape protection area with the aim of enabling people from near and far to rest peacefully in the great outdoors.
The path starts at the parking lot at the sports ground Velpke and is about 2 km long. Entering the geological outcrop requires non-slip footwear. Bicycles and prams can not be taken there.

The walk down the stairs is definitely worth it.