About Au

Allow me to introduce you to our town, Au. Up until now, I've only briefly mentioned her and shown you photos of the view from our kitchen window. Although many parts of our town aren't so picturesque (e.g. the train station in the photo to the left), other parts are lovely and I hope to show you more come spring.

For now, here is some brief information to get you acquainted with our home. Au is part of the Au/Heerbrugg Gemeinde (municipality or community), which means that the two towns, while maintaining separate cultural identities, share local governmental responsibilities. For example, the newsletter announcing recycling and garbage services specifies the pick-up dates for both towns.

Au is located in Rheintal (a constituency) in the Swiss canton (or state) of St. Gallen (SG). I imagine this municipality/constituency/canton set-up is similar to California's community/county/state.

There are approximately 6,600 inhabitants in the Au/Heerbrugg Gemeinde. These are its coordinates: 47°26′N 9°38′E