If you wander through the woods in the region, you will occasionally come across a stone with mysterious-looking marks carved into its almost flat surface. These usually resemble a leaf, showing a central main groove into which secondary grooves lead from both sides, corresponding to the ribs of a leaf.
What puzzles many a hiker are witnesses to a very special cultural asset in Upper Austria. In the eastern Mühlviertel, these stones were and are used to burn pitch oil . A craft with an important history that has been highly valued as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage site since 2013.
In the past, when the population had no doctor at their disposal, "the Heilsam" was used almost as a panacea. With its antiseptic effect, pitch oil proved its reputation as the "pharmacy of the tree" for strains or injuries to humans and animals.
However, knowledge of the traditional craft of burning pitch oil was gradually lost. Doctors were suddenly easier to reach due to increasing mobility and traditional folk medicine became less and less important. As a result, the extraction of the medicinal substance could not be preserved as an ongoing tradition in this country either. However, the burning of pitch oil has not been forgotten.
This is thanks to Hermann Sandner from Kefermarkt, who applied for inclusion as a UNESCO intangible world cultural heritage site and was successful in 2013 - or Fritz Frühwirt from St. Leonhard, who continues to distil pitch oil in a small circle and willingly passes on his knowledge to others. Like Mario Thauerböck, who has regained the knowledge of how to extract the black gold and now regularly practises the craft on the pitch oil stone in front of his organic farm in Kaltenberg. And it truly is: pitch oil distilling is an art in itself.
The granite stones typical of the Mühlviertel are used to burn this tried and tested household remedy.
Incidentally, only resin-rich outgrowths of pine trees are used to burn pitch oil, as well as core pieces of rootstocks and shredded resin-rich pine wood.
The reason why only this wood is used is that other trees release their resin to the outside as soon as they are injured. Pine and larch protect their fractures with resin on the inside - so they are really resin-rich and it is precisely these areas that the pitch oil burner is looking for!
Split the wood and place it tightly together on the pitch oil stone.
Cover carefully with spruce branches.
Cover with turf bricks and burn through an ignition hole.
The resin-rich wood is then piled up in a pyramid shape - like a charcoal pile - carefully covered with spruce branches and sealed with pieces of turf and earth. According to old custom, the pile is lit at midday, i.e. when the sun is at its highest, at the top edge of the sloping stone. The fire is then fed in silence for 24 hours. Due to the lack of oxygen, the piled wood cannot burn, but slowly smoulders and the resin is "sweated out" as pitch oil due to the heat.
The dripping oil flows into the grooves towards the lower end of the stone. There, either a hole is drilled or the channel remains open up to the edge of the rock and a collecting vessel is placed underneath. The "Heilsam" obtained in this way is either used pure or mixed with lard, butter or olive oil and bee honey to make an ointment.
You can't burn pitch oil in all weather conditions, but only on summery days with an ambient temperature of around 25°C. Below that, the stone is too cold. Below that, the stone is too cold, which would result in the resin solidifying as it runs out of the grooves and burning inside the kiln. To make the most of the many hours of sunshine, the kiln is therefore usually fired around the summer solstice.
This tried and tested household remedy was once widely used in veterinary and folk medicine and is still used today. In horses, it is still applied to the hoof to treat thrush. In cattle suffering from larvae infestation on the mountain pasture, it is used as a disinfectant for the affected, removed parts of the skin.
In human medicine, it is used as a healing agent for bruises and as a traction ointment for wounds , especially to prevent suppuration. Mixed with lanolin, it is also effective for heel spurs, rheumatism, gout, sciatica and joint inflammation.
The healing pitch oil is available at various craft and farmers' markets in the region or in the Thauerböck family farm shop.
More than 90 pitch oil stones bear witness to the old craftsmanship in the eastern Mühlviertel. Attentive visitors come across these natural formations of cultural-historical value on hikes in the region or experience the old craft at first hand at selected events.
In 2005, a pitch oil hiking trail was established in Elz, which leads past the Elz pitch oil stones and provides information about the burning of pitch oil on display boards. On particularly clear days, you can also enjoy wonderful views of the Alps.
You can experience this intangible cultural asset live not only with the Thauerböck family, who are happy to be contacted by phone or email, but also at show pitch oil burnings as part of events and village festivals.
The Bohemian Forest School in Ulrichsberg offers an educational workshop as part of the natural spectacle: So much luck with the pitch - stirring pitch ointment yourself around the campfire, where you will not only learn more about the production of the natural product, but also learn how the household remedy can be used for humans and animals.
Do you have any questions? Do not hesitate to contact us!
Please fill in all fields marked *.
