Pechölstein in Hundsdorf bei Gutau

The Pechölstein in Gutau can be found on the "Waldluftbadeweg Reichenstein" and on the hiking trail "Von den Färberinnen zu den Rittern".

A few well-preserved pitch oil stones in the Gutau district still bear witness to the work of the pitch oil burners. The old farmer's wife from the Wurmsbergergut once said that not just anyone could do this work, they had to have the 'authorisation' to do it, by which she probably meant experience and skill.

Pitch oil was extracted as follows:

Pine wood with a high resin content, especially 'kean' (pine wood), was chopped up and piled on the stone and covered with earth, blacksmith's tinder and the like, as in a charcoal pile.
After the fire was lit, the pitch smear flowed down the grooves of the stone and through a hole or a wider channel in the stone into a container placed underneath; when this was full, the watery top layer was skimmed off and the rest was stored in cans or small barrels.