Danube Rock Gorge Nature Reserve (Weltenburg)

The Danube Gorge ("Donaudurchbruch") is one of nature's unique spectacles. In 1978, this nature reserve was awarded with the European Diploma of Protected Areas for the first time.

Weltenburg_Donaufischer

This award was then renewed for another ten years in 2008. The Danube Gorge is one of the "100 most beautiful geotopes in Bavaria" selected by the Bavarian Regional Bureau for Environment.

150 million years ago, the region of Kelheim was covered by a flat subtropical sea, where corals and sponges built the mighty calcareous reefs that are today's walls of the Weltenburg gorge.

Approximately 200,000 years ago, a branch of the Palaeo-Danube cut its way through the limestone rocks, creating the present riverbed of the Danube. Today the river flows for about 5 km among calcareous rock walls up to 70 m high and creates a wonderful landscape. Its grandeur can be best admired on board of the boats that pass through it.