Auer, South Tyrol

Auer (Ora ) is a comune (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 15 km south of the city of Bolzano.

Geography
As of 31 December 2015, it had a population of 3,648 and an area of 11.8 km2.

Auer borders the following municipalities: Aldein, Bronzolo, Montan and Vadena.

History
The name of the settlement is firstly mentioned in a deed of 1190 written in Latin which names Conradinus de Aura, a servant of the Enn noblemen.

The village of Auer emerged as an association of people as early as the 15th century, as a corresponding document from 1463 attests with the explicit naming of the "comunitas ville Awer" – the community of the village of Auer – and its Riegler (land managers).

In 2022, two Stolpersteine have been laid for Martin Krebs and Ida Kaufmann, both local victims of the Holocaust during the Operationszone Alpenvorland period of 1943/44.

Coat of arms
The shield is party per fess of argent and gules with an azure chief with a rampant lion. It is the emblem of the family Khuen who took possession of the site, from 1397 until 1690, when they were then elevated to the Imperial Counts. On the azure chief two crossed or keys are represented as a remembrance of the insignia of St. Peter, to whom the parish church is dedicated. The emblem was adopted in 1969.

Linguistic distribution
According to the 2011 census, 69.74% of the population speak German, 29.59% Italian and 0.67% Ladin as first language.