German Place Names from Latin
Latein-Deutsch-Englisch
Urbis | Towns | Städte
Many German, Austrian, and Swiss towns and cities bear names that come from Latin and the Roman occupation of German Europe. Although German place names go even further back to the ancient Celts, the Romans and Latin exerted a great influence. The Rhine river (der Rhein) gets its name from the Celtic Rhenos — which the Romans called Rhenus.
Below are towns and cities with their Latin, Germanic and English forms.
| LATEIN | DEUTSCH | ENGLISCH |
| aquae | Bad Baden-Baden Bad Godesberg Wiesbaden |
spa, bath (German towns with Bad in their names were Roman baths or aquae) |
| Examples: Aquae Matticae = spa in the meadow = Wiesbaden; Aquae Aureliae = spa of Aurelius = Baden-Baden | ||
| Augusta Treverorum | Trier | Trier |
| Augusta Treverorum or "town of Augustus in the land of the Treverians" (Trier) was founded by the Romans in 15 B.C. under Emperor Augustus. A major landmark in Trier still bears the Latin name Porta Nigra (black gate). Trier is Germany's oldest city and the birthplace of Karl Marx. | ||
| Augusta Vindelicum | Augsburg | Augsburg |
| Bipontium | Zweibrücken | Zweibrücken (two bridges) |
| Brunonis Vicus (village of B.) |
Braunschweig | Braunschweig (Brunswick) |
| campus (Latin for field) |
Kempen | Kempen |
| Castra Regina | Regensburg | Regensburg (fort on the Regina/Regen) |
| cella (cell, shrine, monk's chamber) |
Celle, Zell Zell am See |
Celle, Zell Zell am See |
| Colonia Agrippina | Köln | Cologne |
| Agrippina was the wife of Emperor Claudius, and Cologne got that name when the settlement was elevated to the status of a major city, or colonia. | ||
| Confluentes | Koblenz | Koblenz (confluence of the Rhine and Moselle) |
| Constantia | Konstanz | Constance |
| Konstanz was named for Emperor Constantinius Chlorus, who ruled from Trier (see above). | ||
| sanctus (holy, sacred) |
Xanten | Xanten |
| Vindobona | Wien | Vienna |
| NOTE: Some of the information about place names in this chart comes from A Short History of German Place Names by Harry Davis. An Atlantik-Brücke Publication (1988). ISBN: 3-925744-06-1 | ||
| English-German Glossaries | ||
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