Austrian Resin Extraction

"Pecherei" is the common expression in southern Lower Austria for the practice of Resin Extraction from black pine trees (Evergreens).

[3] In the southern part of Lower Austria, most prominently in the Industrial Quarter and the Vienna Woods, Pecherei became an established practice probably as early as the 17th century.

In fact, at this time, Pecherei and the trading business surrounding it became an important source of income for some members of the population.

[1][3] Austrian Social Security Law still recognizes the Pecherei profession in the context of independent practitioners.

This profession is defined as follows: "Self-employed Resin Workers are people who, without being employed on the basis of a service or apprenticeship relationship, pursue a seasonally recurring, monetarily gainful activity by extracting resin products in forests outside their home area, provided that they usually pursue this gainful activity without the help of non-family workers."

The resin flow within a tree differs based on the time of year and the weather, with warmth and humidity having beneficial effects.

[6][7] The "Boiling Pitch," now freed from water and Turpentine oils, became a dark yellow, hard and brittle mass after cooling—this is known as: "Rosin.

"[6][5] This collected Terpentine Oil and the Rosin were primarily used in the paper, varnish, soap, wire, and shoe-polish industries.

[9] The resulting wood chips from this process were removed via the use of a pointed stick—referred to as the "Rowisch"—which at the same time served as a counting tool: after each new scrap was cut, the Resin Worker would carve an indentation into the stick so that the number of trees that had been extracted was always known.

[9] With the "Adze," which later became the guild symbol of the Pecherei profession, and with a hoe, the Resin Worker subsequently removed the bark from the tree trunk.

In order to be able to direct the resin flow into the resin-collection area (the Scrap), pitch notches had to be inserted across the trunk.

[10] During this process, the bark was removed from about a third of the circumference of the trunk first with an axe and then with the Rintler (which is essentially a scraper) so that a V-shaped demarcation was created.

[10] Then, the Resin Worker had to create an elongated recess on the sides of the tree trunk to accommodate the pitch notches, chopping and pulling them in.

It was made from two thin, long pine trees that served as stiles and tough dogwood for the rungs.

[12] A professional extractor climbed up to 22 rungs of the ladder, which corresponds to a height of 6 m, several hundred times a day, worked the trunk and then slid down with the leather slip patches attached to the thighs and knees.