First mentioned in the year 1130 as "Naglikon" and in 1316 as "Owe", Au (Lauft) belongs politically to the urban area of the south-eastern city of Wädenswil on Lake Zürich.
Located on Zürichsee lakeshore, Wädenswil–Vorder Au is part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps,[1] and the settlement is also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a Class object.[2] Because the lake has grown in size over time, the original piles are now around 4 metres (13 ft) to 7 metres (23 ft) under the water level of 406 metres (1,332 ft).
^"A-Objekte KGS-Inventar". Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
^"B-Objekte KGS-Inventar"(PDF). Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 18 February 2015. Archived from the original(PDF) on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.