Further training for geopark guides

The Geopark guides at the GrenzWelten National Geopark attend regular training sessions, during which they are kept up to date with new findings and current developments, enabling them to convey the unique features of GrenzWelten even more effectively to visitors. In 2025, an excursion with author Thomas Pawellek was included in the training programme for the first time, to mark the publication of the first part of the trilogy on the Geopark in the book series ‘Wanderungen in die Erdgeschichte’ (Journeys through Earth’s History).

Now that the second volume – covering the western part of the GrenzWelten – has been published, Geopark director Dr Georg Bresser and his dedicated team seized this opportunity to resume the excursion programme. Three destinations were on the programme: the active quarries at Rohde near Adorf and Mühlenbein near Rösenbeck, as well as the source of the River Alme near Brilon. Training officer Thomas Pawellek gave an on-site presentation of the two rock types, diabase and limestone, as well as the karst landscape, each of which is characteristic of the selected sites.

During relaxed, entertaining question-and-answer sessions, the participants demonstrated that they already possessed a great deal of expertise and were able to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice straight away. For example, they learnt about the formation of pillow lava in the diabase quarry, discovered traces of the Sauerland’s tropical reefs in the limestone quarry, and saw at the source of the Alme how crystal-clear groundwater resurfaces in gushing karst springs. This new knowledge will prove invaluable to the Geopark guides in their own tours.

Caption: At the end of an exciting and informative excursion with author Thomas Pawellek and Geopark Director Dr Georg Bresser, the Geopark guides visited the source of the Alme. (Photo: GrenzWelten National Geopark)

Keywords:

Environment and Climate Protection Department Geopark GrenzWelten