Amt

English translation: parish/district/county

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Amt
English translation:parish/district/county
Entered by: Astrid Elke Witte

09:34 Oct 27, 2006
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - History / History of the late 1790s
German term or phrase: Amt
Can "Amt" mean parish or district in the context of old German? The text was written in 1921, the story is set in the late 1790s. The main part of the clause is:

"...um die Konzession zur Errichtung einer....im Amte Lauenstein" (nachzusuchen)
Astrid Elke Witte
Germany
Local time: 11:18
parish
Explanation:
Though I would use parish, which I think is more suitable to that time period. George Eliot uses "parish" regularly.

http://www.books.google.com/books?q=parish "George Eliot"&lr...
Selected response from:

Henry Schroeder
United States
Local time: 06:18
Grading comment
Thanks to all answerers and commentators!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4county or Amt
Matthias Quaschning-Kirsch
3parish
Henry Schroeder
2district / leave out
Francis Lee (X)


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
county or Amt


Explanation:
See e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amt_(subnational_entity)
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amt_Neuhaus


Matthias Quaschning-Kirsch
Germany
Local time: 11:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Dr. Georg Schweigart
7 mins
  -> Danke, Georg!

agree  BrigitteHilgner: county, district or something similar - certainly not parish.
18 mins
  -> Danke, Brigitte!

agree  Jeanette Phillips: more like "department" rather than parish
51 mins
  -> Thanks, Jeanette!

agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X)
2 hrs

neutral  Steven Sidore: easy with the anti-Parish talk--for a story set in Louisiana, for example, where counties are are still called parishes today, it would most certainly fit. We need to hear where the story takes place first.
2 hrs
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28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
parish


Explanation:
Though I would use parish, which I think is more suitable to that time period. George Eliot uses "parish" regularly.

http://www.books.google.com/books?q=parish "George Eliot"&lr...

Henry Schroeder
United States
Local time: 06:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field What is ProZ.com Project History(SM)?
Grading comment
Thanks to all answerers and commentators!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Dr. Georg Schweigart: But parish normally or often is only one municipality, isn't?
3 mins
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
district / leave out


Explanation:
I have the impression that this may have merely been a title. For me, "parish" is a district as defined by the church, which does not appear to be the case here. And "county" implies a far more substantial area than - I think - was the case here.
1462: kurfürstliches Amt unter Franz von Körbitz
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauenstein

I've not read that article in its entirety, but I saw no reference to any "county" etc. centering on the town.

You'll need to find out exactly what this Amt comprised. If it really does refer to the surrounding area as well, I'd call it "district".
If it really is just a title, then "in Lauenstein" would suffice.

Francis Lee (X)
Local time: 11:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103
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