Ahrntal

Ahrntal
—  Comune  —
Gemeinde Ahrntal
Comune Valle Aurina
Ahrntal
Location of Ahrntal in Italy
Coordinates:
Country Italy
Region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Province South Tyrol (BZ)
Frazioni Luttach (Lutago), Steinhaus (Cadipietra), St. Jakob (San Giacomo), St. Johann (San Giovanni), St. Peter (San Pietro) and Weißenbach (Riobianco)
Government
 • Mayor Helmut Gebhard Klammer
Area
 • Total 187.0 km2 (72.2 sq mi)
Elevation 1,054 m (3,458 ft)
Population (Nov. 2010)
 • Total 5,881
 • Density 31.4/km2 (81.5/sq mi)
Demonym German: Ahrntaler or Töldra
Italian: della Valle Aurina
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 39030
Dialing code 0474
Website Official website

Ahrntal (Italian: Valle Aurina) is a Gemeinde (municipality) and valley in South Tyrol in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.

Contents

Geography

The municipality lies about 120 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 70 km northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria. As of 1 January 2007, it had a population of 5,881 and an area of 187.0 km².[1]

Ahrntal borders the following municipalities: Mühlwald, Prettau, Sand in Taufers, Brandberg (Austria), Finkenberg (Austria), and Mayrhofen (Austria).

Frazioni

The municipality of Ahrntal contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Luttach (Lutago), Steinhaus (Cadipietra), St. Jakob (San Giacomo), St. Johann (San Giovanni), St. Peter (San Pietro) and Weißenbach (Riobianco).

Weißenbach is composed of picturesque alpine farmhouses, grouped around the foaming white glacial stream from which its name is derived. With a population of around 550, it sits at an altitude of 1350 metres above sea level.

History

The pride of the village is the Church of St. Jacob, dating from the 16th century. The church houses a valuable winged altar from 1516, which was restored in 1884. Also of note are both the modern extension to the church building and the newly-arranged adjoining cemetery.

Place name

A name for the valley was first recorded in written sources in the 11th century. An Aurina vallis is mentioned in 1048, between 1070 and 1080 Ourin or Ouren appear in documents.[2]

Coat-of-arms

The emblem is tierced of paly: in the first and third are four and half points of argent on azure, in the second a vert pale with a wavy line of argent. The emblem show the position of the municipality along the green valley with the river Ahr and the mountains all around. The emblem was granted in 1969.[3]

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2001 census, 98.79% of the population speak German, 1.07% Italian and 0.13% Ladin as first language.[4]

Demographic evolution


See also

References

  1. ^ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
  2. ^ Egon Kühebacher (1991), Die Ortsnamen Südtirols und ihre Geschichte, Bozen: Athesia, p. 24
  3. ^ Heraldry of the World: Ahrntal
  4. ^ Oscar Benvenuto (ed.): "South Tyrol in Figures 2008", Provincial Statistics Institute of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, Bozen/Bolzano 2007, p. 16, table 10

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ahrntal Ahrntal] at Wikimedia Commons