Forest history

1998: The result of the investigation is particularly astonishing that in the Jörglgraben only from 1765 the primeval forest was beaten . Thus, there are several forest sections in the Jörglgraben that have only been used once. These are

• some areas in the fire forest,
• Parts between Bretterries and Kienrücken,
• parts of the south-western slopes of the Kitzkogel,
• Parts in the vicinity of the dilapidated Schaumbergalmhütte,
• parts of the northern slopes of the Grestenberg,
• as well as the section between Boßbretteck, Kienrücken and the dilapidated hermitage on the Jörglbach.

As early as 1575 , the Jörglalm (=Pölzlalm) and the Schaumbergalm were mentioned. There were also connecting paths to these alpine pastures to Reichraming and in the direction of Windischgarsten. However, the woodcutters did not come to the felling work in the Jörglgraben until much later. The reason lies in the great distance to Reichraming and in the remoteness of the valley. The approach route from the village of Reichraming is given as 12 hours.

The forest in the Jörglgraben was left to the hammer mills of Reichraming for use. They paid an annual fee to the Steyr lordship for this.

From about 1750 onwards, the shortage of wood was so blatant that even very remote forests had to be attacked. Bringing wood from these very distant trenches was extremely difficult and costly. The enormous distance, which took one day from Reichraming, also acted as an inhibition threshold. In the timber drift, the trunks had to cover a distance of 21.1 km from the upper hermitage in the Jörglbach to the Schallauer rake in Reichraming.

In 1765 , the forest in the Jörglgraben began to be felled.

1770: A description of the border along the watershed between Jörglgraben and Krumme Steyrling lists those trees that were marked as border trees. The course of the border represents a profile through the forest, so to speak. On the border line there are 6 spruces, 5 firs, 4 beeches and 1 larch.

In 1772, a hermitage was built for the Holztrift.

In 1774 , two woodcutter parties were already working in the Jörglgraben. In the rear Jörglgraben, the dry damaged wood is being processed, at the front the many windthrows are being tackled.

The Innerberg main union reports the burning of some felling surfaces in the Jörglgraben. After burning, grain is sown.

In 1778 , the forester ordered that seed trees must remain as holdovers during felling.

In 1779 , the woodcutters of the Innerbeg main union began to cut down in the fire forest, which was provided with many windthrows.

The fire forest is a mixed forest and consists of 2/3 hardwood and 1/3 softwood.

In July 1779 , about 1/7 of the available amount of wood from the Jörglgraben was felled. Work is being carried out in the front and rear Jörglgraben, as well as in the fire forest.

From 1781 onwards, the Ahorntal is stocked. In the fire forest , the next one follows the two fields (of 1779 and 1780). The old forest between Hetzschlucht and Ahorntal is also attacked.

In 1781 , about 2/5 of the forest in the Jörglgraben was felled.

In 1794 , 1795 and 1796 two woodcutter parties felled in the fire forest .

A third pass of woodcutters works in the front Jörglgraben. The saw is now also used for felling (previously the logs were chopped down).

In 1795 , 4/5 of the forest in the Jörglgraben was felled. Almost half of the area in the Jörglgraben is an openness.

In 1800 , windthrows and snowfalls were processed in the fire forest . In 1806, the felling in the fire forest was stopped.

The first felling campaign in the Jörglgraben lasted from 1765 to about 1805, i.e. about 40 years.

In 1806 , the area around the Grestenberg, Schaumberg, Trämpl and Kienrücken was described as a "strong fir forest". This has "large spruces, firs, beeches, oaks and several types of wood".

In 1846 , the following tree age groups can be seen in the Jörglgraben:
approx. 40 % under 30 years, approx. 40 % from 30 to 60 years and approx. 20 % over 90 years (these trees could still be old wood from the primeval forest, as there was no felling here before 1765).

The bark beetle disaster of 1919/22 also affected the Jörglgraben. Beetle infestation occurs in parts of the forest south of the Almstein and southwest of the Trämpl, as well as on the orographic right side along the Jörglbach, especially near the confluence of the Hetzschlucht.

The forest railway , built from 1947 to 1951 into the Reichraminger Hintergebirge, also has a branch towards Jörglgraben. The railway line leads to the new Wällerhütte. In 1971, the forest railway was discontinued and then the forest road was built.

Of the former timber harvesting facilities , parts of the old Triftsteig, the remains of the Triftklause built in 1922/23 and a short section of a water giant are still present today.

In the area of the Jörglgraben there were a total of 3 alpine pastures. The Schaumbergalm and the Jörglalm were mentioned as early as 1575. After the felling began in 1765, the meadows of both alpine pastures expanded considerably.

The Annerlalm was located on the Kleiner Kien and had only a small plain. Grazing on the steep slopes of the Kienrücken was only possible to an extremely limited extent.

Author: Josef Weichenberger, Linz / Leonstein