In the mid-18th century, gemstone prospector David Frenzel (1691–1772) found numerous examples of this wood in the hills in and around Chemnitz.

Later a collector, the Hilbersdorf contractor Güldner, bequeathed some of the petrified logs to King Albert Museum in Chemnitz.

[3] The petrified forest was formed in connection with the eruption of the Zeisigwald volcano in the lower Permian and dates back about 291 million years.

In the following of years, the silicic acid included in the tephra ensured the fossilization of Permian plants, preserving them until today.

The varanopid Ascendonanus[5] As well as reptiles, amphibians (like Aistopod), gastropods and arthropods, including the trigonotarbid Permotarbus and scorpion Opsieobuthus, diplopod such as Arthropleura are known from the forest.