The Pingen Fields of Unterpullendorf - Relics of the Celts & Romans
Burgenland is one of the oldest settled areas of Austria. People have lived here since the Neolithic, around 8,000 years ago - primarily engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.
However, Burgenland, especially the Mittelburgenland, also has a significant industrial past. It dates back over 2,000 years to the late Iron Age. At that time, the Celts extracted iron ore here on a large scale. The center was the now-forested area east of Oberpullendorf between Großmutschen, Großwarasdorf, and Raiding.
Pingen are called round, funnel-shaped pits in miners' terminology, which have remained as remnants of collapsed shafts. On the ridge between Stoober and Raidingbach in Unterpullendorf, you can visit the witnesses of former iron mining.
The research of iron ores in the Oberpullendorf area, also known as the Landseer Bay, actually began with archaeologists and "local researchers." In the forests of the central Burgenland around Oberpullendorf – Unterpullendorf – Großmutschen (Roman Amber Road) as well as Langental – Großwarasdorf – Nebersdorf, hundreds of funnel-shaped depressions drew initial attention, which later turned out to be Pingen from several long-past mining operations. The famous "Ferrum Noricum" in antiquity is thought to have been the iron ore from central Burgenland. It was the first export product from Burgenland - for the Roman armaments industry.
Here’s how to get there: Road between Unterpullendorf and Frankenau. Turn at the sign "Pingenfeld."