In English we have the abbreviation "Co.", which is used to denote a company or a group. We often see phrases like "Adler & Co." or "Harrison & Co." and it's commonly understood what this means.
Is there a German equivalent for this abbreviation? If you were to translate an English company name into German, and the name of this company contains the phrase "and co.", how would you translate the phrase?
You don’t have to translate this into German because we use this abbreviation too. If you see phrases like Adler & Co. it means that not only Mr. or Mrs. Adler is the shareholder. There are others too but they are not mentioned in the company name.
In German we call a Co. Company Compagnie. Sounds not very German but it’s the truth. Until the 19th century we used the abbreviation Cie. for this so maybe you will read this abbreviation too (because of tradition they haven’t changed it).
But you have to be careful with these company abbreviations because they are proper names. In the UK you have Ltd.’s (limited companies), let’s say Facebook Ltd. This is a capital company, don’t make the mistake to translate this into Facebook GmbH. It’s also a capital company but it’s not the same.
German companies are sometimes identified by the initials, AG, which means "Aktiengesellschaft" ("stock company"), or GmbH, "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, ("company with limited liability").
On the other hand, if you were referring to an English-incorporated company, Smith and Co., you would just keep the English form, "Smith and Co." and not translate it into German. Likewise, a French company, Louis & Cie. would be "translated" just that way into German.
Not at all, because in most cases you will not end up with the same thing (the legalese between countries tends to be different).
Mayer & Co, for example, is not a valid company name according to German laws - It doesn't mention the legal form of the company. For literary purposes, a translation might be useful, for real business definitely not.
Also, the designation of a legal entity is normally considered part of the proper name of the company and thus not translated - You wouldn't normally call a person named "John" in English "Hans" in the German translation.
The german equivalent for this abbreviation is the same as in english:
"& Co." or "& Cie."
"Co." or alternatively "Cie." are abbreviations for "Compagnie" and denote that there are more shareholder beside the person mentioned.
Note that according to the german law (Handelsgesetzbuch) you have to add the company's legal form in order to satisfy the required mandatory informations.
