The invention relates to an exhaust gas filter device for filtering contaminants out of exhaust gases, comprising: a filtering apparatus for filtering the exhaust gases, wherein the exhaust gases enter the filtering apparatus at a filter inlet surface, flow through the filtering apparatus and exit the filtering apparatus at a filter outlet surface and a distribution channel for distributing the exhaust gases to be filtered along the filter inlet surface, and a collection channel for collecting the filtered exhaust gases exiting at the filter outlet surface wherein the cross section of the collection channel increases in the direction of flow of the exhaust gases and/or the cross section of the distribution channel decreases in the direction of flow of the exhaust gases.
