Gais, South Tyrol

Gais (Italian: [ˈɡais], German: [ˈɡaɪs]) is a comune (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north-east of the city of Bolzano.

Gais
Comune
Gemeinde Gais Comune di Gais
Neuhaus Castle
Coat of arms
Location of Gais
Gais Location of Gais in Italy Show map of Italy Gais Gais (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol) Show map of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Coordinates: 46°50′N 11°57′E
Country	Italy
Region	Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Province	South Tyrol (BZ)
Frazioni	Lanebach (Lana di Gais), Mühlbach (Riomolino), Tesselberg (Montassilone) and Uttenheim (Villa Ottone)
Government
• Mayor	Alexander Dariz (SVP)
Area [1]
• Total	60.3 km2 (23.3 sq mi)
Elevation	841 m (2,759 ft)
Population  (Nov. 2010)[2]
• Total	3,162
• Density	52/km2 (140/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	German:Gaiser Italian: di Gais
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	39030
Dialing code	0474
Website	Official website

St. John in Gais

Geography

As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 3,162 and an area of 60.3 km² (23.3 sq mi).^[3]

Gais is one of the three communes of South Tyrol whose name, for the reason of sounding "romantic", remained unchanged by the early 20th century renaming programme which aimed at replacing mostly German place names with Italianised versions, the other two being Plaus and Lana.^[4]

Gais borders the following municipalities: Bruneck, Sand in Taufers, Pfalzen, Percha, and Mühlwald.

Frazioni

The municipality of Gais contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Lanebach (Lana di Gais), Mühlbach (Riomolino), Tesselberg (Montassilone) and Uttenheim (Villa Ottone).

History

Coat-of-arms

The emblem is party per bend or and azure with two bendlets azure; the remaining field represents a sable eagle with a halo and the head facing left. The eagle symbolizes John the Evangelist which the parish church is dedicated and the two azure bendlets the two castles Kehlburg and Neuhaus. The emblem was adopted in 1956.^[5]

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy

Twin towns — Sister cities

Gais is twinned with:

• Coburg, Germany

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2024 census, 96.07% of the population speak German, 3.60% Italian and 0.33% Ladin as first language.^[6]

Demographic evolution