The Papenkaule is a circular volcanic crater 80 metres wide and 20 metres deep and is now a valuable geotope and biotope. The Papenkaule is famous throughout the Eifel and is something very special.

Around 10,000 years ago, it became noisy and uncomfortable for the Stone Age inhabitants who had settled on the former sea reef of the Gerolstein Dolomites in the Buchenloch cave. A volcano broke through the limestone cliffs in their immediate neighbourhood. The Papenkaule was formed - not a high volcanic cone with a crater at the summit, but a depression in the bedrock that still exists today.

A different kind of lava flow

The lava emerged 300 metres west of the explosion site in the Hagelskaule and flowed southwards into the Kyll valley in the direction of today's Gerolstein district of Sarresdorf. This sideways movement of the lava flow is unique in the UNESCO Volcanic Eifel Nature and Geopark and was created because the karstic rock massif has underground fissures through which the flow of embers reached the surface horizontally rather than vertically.

The Papenkaule never became a water-filled maar or crater lake due to the nature of the ground. The limestone, which was formed 380 million years ago by the death of countless calcifying organisms and other marine animals in a subtropical shallow ocean, is far too porous.

The hollow in the reef is a habitat for rare animals and plants that thrive on calcareous grassland. For hikers on the Eifelsteig or on its partner trail, the Felsenpfad, who enjoy their stage on the Gerolstein Dolomites, the place is above all a place to pause, take a deep breath and find peace.

The Papenkaule volcanic crater is freely accessible all year round and is point 33 along the German Volcano Route.