The Teufelsloch ("Devil's Hole") is a

karst spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring (exsurgence, outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known i ...

near

Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz (, ), often simply called Osterode (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Lower Saxony in central Germany on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the ...

in the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Description

The Teufelsloch is located southeast of Augustental in mature forest near the

Karst Trail The Karst Trail () is a marked and signed footpath that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in Lower Saxony and Pölsfeld in Saxony-Anhalt through the karst landscape of the South Harz in Germany. The path runs past a number of area ...

. It is a circular

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

with lustrous blue-green water. The stream that drains it feeds the

Teufelsbäder The Teufelsbäder ("Devil's Baths") is the name of a Moorland, moor landscape near Osterode am Harz in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It lies within the nature reserve of the same name southeast of Augustental on the Bundesstraße 243, B 24 ...

moor to the west, and then flows through the

Apenke The Apenke is a left tributary of the Söse in Osterode am Harz, Osterode in the Harz Mountains in the German state of Lower Saxony. Course The Apenke rises south of the Feenhöhe heights in the Bärengarten. It flows initially parallel to the ...

to the river

Söse Söse () is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the river Rhume and long. Geography The Söse rises on the plateau of ''Auf dem Acker'' in the district of Göttingen in the southwestern part of the Harz Mountains in ...

. After heavy rain, other springs rise in the area around its banks that give the karst water in the Teufelsloch a brownish colour. The Teufelsloch lies within the Nature Reserve.

Folk stories

In earlier times, the Teufelsloch was perceived as something rather threatening. The origin of its shimmering blue waters rising from eerie depths could not be explained by the people. They talked of

will-o'-the-wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp, or ; ), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in the United Kingdom by a variety of names, including jack-o'- ...

s of human size, who would lure wanderers at night over a bent tree into the Teufelsloch. Others believed that the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

in the form of a giant one-eyed fish with a needle-sharp bite, lurked in the water.

External links

Legend about the Teufelsloch
at karstwanderweg.de
Naturschutzgebiet Teufelsbäder
on the pages of the Lower Saxon State Department for Waterway, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) {{DEFAULTSORT:Teufelsloch (Teufelsbader) Springs of Germany Karst springs Karst formations of Germany Landforms of Lower Saxony Osterode am Harz STeufelsloch