Ratskeller

town-hall cellar restaurant

noun RAHT-skel-ler Rare

Usage Note

Ratskeller is a traditional restaurant in the vaulted cellar (Keller) beneath a town hall (Rathaus), a quintessential German institution found in many historic cities. Plural Ratskeller.

Examples

"Zum Abschluss der Stadtführung kehrten wir im alten Ratskeller ein."

Natural Translation

To end the city tour we stopped off at the old town-hall cellar restaurant.

Literal Translation

For the conclusion of the city-tour stopped we in the old Ratskeller.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

German Compound Words: How to Read Any Long Word

Read any long German word by working right-to-left: the last noun sets the meaning and gender, and the small linking letters are just glue. Here's the drill.

June 9, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

Tipping in Germany: A Visitor's Etiquette Guide

Tipping in Germany means saying your total out loud, not leaving coins. Learn the exact phrases, how much to tip, and the Sie-vs-du etiquette travelers need.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

How to Tell Time in German Without Mistakes

Halb sieben means 6:30, not 7:30. Master telling time in German — Viertel nach, halb, vor, the 24-hour clock, and the prepositions that trip up beginners.

June 5, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

Order Food in German: Restaurant Phrases

Order food in German with confidence: use ich hätte gern, read the Speisekarte, ask die Rechnung bitte, and handle zusammen oder getrennt like a local.

June 5, 2026 5 min read