My suggestion would be to go to http://users.rootsweb.com/~deuhes/Hessen/towns.htm and choose Site #1. For the town name, choose Eisenach, then for the country, Germany. Scroll down to where you have a choice between Daitch-Mokotof soundex and precise spelling, and choose the latter. Note the coordinates of Eisenach. Now look up the word Breis, but this time choose soundex. Look for coordinates that are similar to those of Eisenach. Perhaps you will find a small town near there that resembles "Beirheis." You can do this with any location anywhere on earth. :) Don ----- Original Message ----- From: Neal Beirise <[email protected]> > One branch of my family is from Saxe-Weimer-Eisenach > but I have not been able to find their town of origin or the original > spelling of the name. Currently "Beirise" is used