If you walk along the road from Stadtroda to Wolfersdorf - Neustadt/O. and pass the village of Geisenhain and the stone bridge, you can see a strange building on the left-hand side of the forest. As you approach, you can tell from the smell of tar and pitch that there is a pitch kiln nearby. The yellow clay roof can be seen from afar.

It is an old, brick-built stove. It has two 12 cm thick walls running side by side, which are joined together at the top. The bricks were joined together with clay mortar when they were laid. The outer visible surfaces are surrounded by a thick layer of clay mixed with straw. The kiln had to be filled with kiln wood to prevent the wood pile from collapsing and spoiling the entire fire.

Once the stove was filled and the burner and the two holes for the large entrance and exit were closed with stone slabs or bricks, the fire could be started.

The flame hit the air space between the two walls, allowing the smoke to escape through the small holes in the outer casing. The wood soon began to sweat, pitch and turpentine ran out onto the floor through the two pipes into the gutters and into the containers provided. The fire was stoked for three days and two nights. The burner could only leave the kiln for a short time.

The lower channel collected the pitch water and the upper thin metal pipe collected the turpentine oil. Once the oil and pitch had run out and the wood had been sucked out, the stove was emptied.