Rancho German (also called "Rancho de Hermann" or "Rancho de Ross") was a 17,580-acre (71.1 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Ernest Rufus. Rufus named the ranch after Hermann, the German hero who defeated the Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest at the time of the Emperor Augustus. Herman, in Spanish, would be written "German". The name "Rancho de Hermann" appears on the diseno, but the expediente has "German".