In the German language there is a character in the alphabet that is called, phonetically, "estsett" and resembles an English capitol B, except that it has a "top-notch" on the vertical projection of the B that resembles the lowercase "f" without the cross-line. This "estset" is the replacement of a double ("ss") in the language, not too much unlike the double-u is replaced by the "W" in English.
So the German "GroB" (with the top notch) is, in English, Gross