This raises an interesting issue--the possibility of providing data with localized abbreviations on a historic basis (a bit more ambitious than the current CLDR, which as far as I know only gives abbreviations for "modern" time zones). That said, abbreviations of the form MEZ-1MSZ-2 or CET-1CEST you provide would refer to a time zone that never really existed--one that had used UTC/GMT plus one hour, or plus two in periods governed by current EU summer-time rules, back to the beginning of time (pun intended). The proper Olson equivalent is Europe/(whatever-city-is-your-big-neighbor), so Europe/Vienna for Austrians, Europe/Brussels for Belgians, etc. (A google on "MSZ" revealed quite a few uses--the part number of something to do with Gundam, a ministry in the government of Poland, and the NYSE ticker of Morgan Stanley--but nothing in at least the first 7 pages of hits that indicates its use as a time-zone abbreviation. If my search is to be believed, the Germanized version of CEST is MESZ in ordinary usage.) -----Original Message----- I'm not a member of the distribution list, although I believe my enquiry is covered by its scope, and I wonder whether you might be able to circulate my enquiry (and return any replies) as my own research has failed to identify an answer. I'm trying to service a request to recognise the standard timezone name of 'MEZ-1MSZ', but I've so far not found any documentation to support or define the scope if this is an acceptable POSIX TZ value and a standard timezone name. The suggestion has been made that MSZ is a widely(?) employed alias (in some region(s) of the Gernan speaking world?) for MESZ that is standardly defined for "Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit" (GMT+0200); MEZ being an accepted acronym for "Mitteleuropäische Zeit". And, I whilst I can find instances for the use of the standard(?) 'MEZ-1MSZ-2' I have been unsuccessful in locating any equivalence for 'MEZ-1MSZ' itself.  Is MSZ equivalent and a widely accepted acronym matching MESZ, and if so where and how typical is its use? How does it differ to the 'MEZ-1MSZ-2' standard? Can you/anyone advise on the practice of employing 'MEZ-1MSZ' as a POSIX TZ value or indeed how prevalent its use is, or in which region (likely related to honouring DST somewhere in the vicinity of Berlin?) and whether this is directly equivalent to other common/standard names, such as CET-1CEST?  What should its Olson equivalent be? (Whilst my inconclusive researches have been more extensive, support for the above statement appears available readily here (amongst other places):   http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/cet.html   http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/cest.html   http://www.all-acronyms.com/special/time_zone_acronyms_and_abbreviations.asp   http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitzone ) Thank you in anticipation, Stephen --- Stephen Hellberg Java L3 Service, IBM Hursley Email: hellbes@uk.ibm.com ________________________________________ Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU