The Wurzen Pass (German: Wurzenpass, Slovene: Korensko sedlo) is a mountain pass that connects Kranjska Gora in Slovenia with Villach in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Though its elevation of 1,073 meters is relatively moderate, the road is very curvy and includes some steep ascents with a maximum grade of 18 percent.
Until the opening of the Karawanken Motorway Tunnel in 1991, the Wurzen Pass along with the eastern Loibl Pass was one of the main arteries for traffic from Austria and Germany to former Yugoslavia and the Balkans.
When Slovenia joined the European Union in May of 2004, customs controls were removed from the border. As Slovenia entered the Schengen Area in 2007, passport controls with police checkpoints were consequently abolished in December of 2007. En route to the pass you pass a museum which has interesting exhibits about the pass and the bunker system that fortified it.
On the way to the pass
Visit September 2023
It is good to return a previously visited border point. What changes have occurred? What things are observed which were missed the first time round. In 2023 an obvious change was that Austrian police were conducting formal checks on the border. New border markers were observed. A duty free shop (a feature on many border crossings in this area) was open and doing good trade. The checkpoint facilities were not as impressive in 2023 with some structures removed since 2011. I visited this point in 2023 as part of the IBRG SITEX-23 expedition.
The female police officer challenged the taking of this photo and queried if she was in the shot. Standing in Slovenia and speaking only English defused the situation. It was our only interaction with law enforcement this trip.
Looking into Slovenia
Looking into Austria
New border marker
Walking west along the border, a short distance behind the Slovenian shop we found AT/SI BM#229, smaller than the 2 border markers closer to the crossing point. One that I had not found on my first visit.
Date of Visits: August 2011 and September 2023
Barry's Borderpoints 
As usual – an accurate and comprehensive Report from a nice border crossing!👍
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