In the 1950s, Paul Schößwendter senior took over a small sawmill in Hinterthal (near Maria Alm) from his father. 

In 1960, he acquired the site in Saalfelden, Uttenhofen, and left the sawmill in Hinterthal. 

The previous owners of the present site had operated a sawmill intermittently until 1960. 

They produced lumber, wood wool and barrel staves – hence the name “stave saw”. From then on, the stave saw was constantly expanded, wood drying facilities were built and, in addition, the processing of sawn timber into planed goods began. 

Meanwhile, with 130 employees, 280,000 solid cubic meters of logs are processed annually into lumber and planed products.

The by-products produced, such as bark, sawdust, wood chips and shavings can be completely be recycled. 

Bark is processed into heat for the wood drying plants in a plant’s own biomass furnace, and sawdust and wood shavings are compressed into pellets and marketed as a high-quality, renewable energy source. 

Wood chips are supplied as raw material to the paper industry. 

The required roundwood (mainly spruce) is delivered from a radius of approx. 

120 km, with the majority coming from Austria and Germany. 

The majority of production is exported – with a focus on Italy. 

Sales are made to carpentry shops, DIY stores and woodworking companies such as glue-laminated beam or packaging manufacturers. 

Today, the family business is one of the most modern and efficient sawmills and planing mills in Austria.