Kettle near the village Groß Kölzig

Kettles are landscape features which formed during glacial periods. The term originates from Low German and can be roughly translated to “water hole”. When the continental ice sheed retreated at the end of the last glacial period, so-called dead ice blocks remained and were buried under sediments transported by the glacier (moraines). As the ice melts, the material lying above it sinks downward, leading to the formation of often water-filled depressions, usually with a circular shape. Today, the kettle is silted up and only filled with water during periods of elevated precipitation.