Porta Westfalica

The Porta Westfalica is a gorge, where the Weser river runs through the passage between the mountain chains of the Wiehengebirge in the west and the Wesergebirge in the east. It is located in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Since 1973 Porta Westfalica is also the name of a town, which was established by merging fifteen villages surrounding the gorge. This town has a population of 38,500. The centre of the modern town is the former village of Hausberge, which was first mentioned in 1096.

The name "Porta Westfalica" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of Westphalia. Despite the Latin name the term was not coined in Roman times, but by scholars of the 19th century.