Valorie mentioned the Ancestry.com's online version of Meyers Orts ("orts" being German for "places"). Here is another resource, which is free, does not require a subscription & is navigable in English: Atlas des Deutschen Reichs {German states atlas} -- http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/ravenstein/, {U. of Wisconsin} A digitized copy of Ravenstein's 1883 atlas. {Relates present to historical place names.} I haven't actually visited it lately, not since I did a presentation on German Genealogical websites for the local Palatines to America chapter. But I seem to recall being impressed with the graphical interface. -rt_/)