Gate column
Approximately 1 m high stone column with a round hole on the old path from Osterwasser to Hutstein.
The gate columns that can still be found in some places in the Mühlviertel have historical significance as demarcations of property, probably introduced by Emperor Joseph II, but also as a magical defence, to be sacrificed to the storm or to avert its dangers. They are stone pillars with a round or square hole in which a wooden gate could be attached. According to old folk beliefs, they were not allowed to be moved because the poor souls who would be hurt lived under the stone.
(Source: Otto Milfait, Elvira Landgraf “The Mühlviertel Language, Customs and Sayings”. And again soul, magic…)
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