For centuries, the largest farmer's fiefdom of the Gnotschaft or the former municipality of Au stood here. Even rye was grown at this altitude at that time. In its wild form, this grain can still be found in the forest next to the path. Due to a lack of water, the property was sold to the royal Bavarian forest administration and the last owners moved down to the center of Oberau.
But back to the Hochgaisstall fiefdom. An owner is said to have lived there around 1700, who had practiced all sorts of black and white magic, the "Gaisstall-Mandl". Many stories are told about him. The Hochgaisstall farmer always rode into the village on a white gray horse and was very proud. He traveled far and wide in the country and is said not to have returned from one of his journeys. One day towards evening the farmhands are said to have come with their teams of horses to work the fields. The Hochgaisstall farmer had ordered them to do this work and they thought they wouldn't be able to start the next morning because the manure hadn't spread out on the field yet. But the farmer calmed them down and said they could go to sleep in peace, he would take care of it. When the farmhands got up early in the morning, the manure was neatly spread all over the field. One of the servants looked out of the window in the moonlight and saw how many little "Manderl", probably the Untersberg dwarfs, were bringing the manure to the meadow.
Another time, while harvesting hay, a maid had forgotten the large water jug far up in the field. When she talked about it with the farmer and said she had to get on her tines again to get the jug, he replied that there was an easier way. He put two fingers in his mouth and gave a high-pitched whistle, after which the stone jug tumbled down the slope of its own accord and lay undamaged in front of the house.
Another story of the legendary "Gaisstall-Mandl" begins on a cloudy and cold autumn evening. An icy wind was whistling down from the Rossfeld, already announcing the first snow. The farmer walked around his house before bedtime, when he saw some traveling people with their wives and children approaching his property. They asked for lodging and said that if they could stay in the barn they would be happy. The farmer led them into the barn filled with hay and straw and said that here they were well protected from the cool night. He also inculcated them because of the risk of fire in the filled barn, yes, no fire and no light to burn. But the visitors paid no attention to the farmer's words. Soon burned in the middle
of hay and straw a merry fire that lit up the barn with flickering flames and spread cozy warmth. But strangely enough, the hay and straw that lay close to the fire did not catch fire. The people obviously had mysterious powers and thus controlled this fire. The Hochgaisstall farmer noticed what his quarters were doing and came into the barn. When he said he had forbidden the making of fires, his guests laughed and said he could rest easy. Then he got angry and shouted that he had forbidden it anyway. Then he hurriedly walked in front of the house, took a large-meshed, round grain sieve from the wall, a so-called "Rosler", drew water from the well and carried it into the barn, without a single drop of water running through the sieve. Arrived in the barn, he put out the mysterious fire of the people. When they noticed that the farmer had even more magic power than they did, they ran out of the barn and fled into the dark night
out and were never seen again.