Chuck, I am NOT a scholar in the German language. Two years of college German long, long ago taught me only how to ask for a glass of beer. Since then I have been told that one thumb straight up and the word "eine" eliminates the need for the entire sentence. However, many German words can be broken down. Rathaus means Town Hall, Ratskeller means Town Hall Cellar although we in the States would consider it more as a lower level beer hall. In this case, instead of Stadt, we would use Rat for town and Archiv means archives. So my feeling is that Ratsarchiv would be the Town Archives or Town Keeper of Records. djweber [email protected] ------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 9:48 AM Subject: [Ortenau] Translation PLease > Ratsarchiv > > > > thanks > > Chuck Schober