Hl. Martin - Kugellärche

On the road from Pichlern towards Thomatal, popularly called Bettlmandl Tauern, the remains of a Kugellärche stand on the right. Carved into the trunk of the larch are animal heads and Saint Martin. The Kugellärche was declared a natural monument on April 20, 1936. This declaration was revoked by the BH Tamsweg on November 15, 2010. In August 2012, the municipality of St. Margarethen commissioned artist Ernst Adelsberger to carve figures from the trunk with a chainsaw. Saint Martin, as the patron saint of the poor, reminds of the name "Bettelmandl-Tauern," which originates from the fact that many incomeless families from Styria came through this road into Lungau. This last happened in 1938 after the closure of the Ramingstein paper mill. The animals also depicted—cow, pig, and horse—were of great importance to agriculture in Lungau for centuries.