Auderath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Ulmen, whose seat is in the like-named town. Geography The tourist resort of Auderath is located in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. The municipality lies some 3 km southeast of Ulmen. To Alflen and the Büchel Airbase (Fliegerhorst Büchel) in Büchel in the east it is 2 km. To the south lie Schmitt and Gillenbeuren, and to the southwest Filz and Wollmerath. On a broader scale, Auderath lies between Trier (about 75 km away) and Koblenz (about 60 km away, in each case by Autobahn). History Auderath stood under the lordship of the Electorate of Trier and the Lords of Ulmen. In 1573, Trier became the overlord for good. Auderath belonged to the Electoral-Trier Amt of Ulmen. Beginning in 1794, Auderath lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Under Prussia, the village belonged to the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Lutzerath and beginning in 1816 to the Cochem district. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Politics Municipal council The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Mayor Auderath’s mayor is Frank Steimers. Coat of arms The German blazon reads: Schild durch eingeschweifte gestürzte goldene Spitze, darin eine grüne Krone, gespalten. Vorn in Grün ein silberner Korb mit goldenen Broten, hinten in Grün eine silberne Henkelurne. The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Tierced in mantle reversed, dexter vert a basket argent therein loaves of bread Or, sinister vert an urn of the second, in chief Or a crown azure. The crown in the gold field refers to Our Lady of the Rosary, who is the parish’s patron saint. The basket with the loaves of bread in the green field recalls an old custom in the municipality, that of giving out Saint Sebastian’s bread in the church (observed on 5 February). The urn stands for digs undertaken in the municipality between 1936