RATOLFZEL, a strong town of Germany, in Swabia, near the west end of the lake Constance. It is seated on that part of it called Bedesense, and belongs to the house of Austria, who took it from the duke of Wirtemberg, after the battle of Nordlingen. It is 12 miles west of the city of Constance. It is defended by the impregnable castle of Hohen Dwel, on an inaccessible hill in the middle of a plain, the rock of which is flint, so that a few men may hold it out against an army.