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Germany had an indigenous system of German units of measurement prior to its adoption of the international metric system. These units are now mainly of historical interest.

German system

Before the introduction of the metric system in German, almost every town had its own definitions of the units shown below, and supposedly by 1810, in Baden alone, there were 112 different standards for the Elle around Germany. The metric system was a much-needed standardisation in Germany. (Opinion - Source?)

Length

Meile (mile)

A German geographic mile (geographische Meile) is defined as 1/15 equatorial degrees, equal to 7420.54 m. A common German mile, land mile, or post mile (Gemeine deutsche Meile, Landmeile, Postmeile) was defined in various ways at different places and different times. After the introduction of the metric system in the 19th century the Landmeile was generally fixed at 7500 m (the Reichsmeile), but before then there were many local and regional variants (of which some are shown below):

Rute (rod)

This is of Carolingian origin, used as a land measure.

Wegstunde

One hours travel, used up to the 18th century. In Germany ½ Meile or 3.71 km, in Switzerland 16,000 feet or 4.8 km.

Klafter (fathom)

Originally 6 feet, after introduction of the metric system 10 feet. Regional changes from 1.75 m in Baden to 3 m in Switzerland.

Lachter

The Lachter was the most common unit of length used in mining in German-speaking areas. It's exact length varied from place to place but was roughly between 1.9 and 2.1 metres long.

Elle (ell)

Distance between elbow and finger tip. In the North, often 2 feet, In Prussia 17 / 8 feet, in the South variable, often 2½ feet. The smallest known German elle is 402.8 mm, the longest 811 mm.

Fuß (foot)

The foot varied between 23.51 cm in Wesel and 40.83 cm in Trier. Rheinfuß – Rhine foot, used in the North, 31.387 cm.

Zoll (inch)

Usually 1 / 12 foot, but also 1/11 and 1 / 10.

Linie

Usually 1 / 12 inch, but also 1 / 10.

Volume

Klafter

For firewood, 2.905 m³

Nösel

In general, the Nösel was a measure of liquid volume equal to half a Kanne ("jar," "jug," "bottle," "can"). Actual volumes so measured, however, varied from one state or even one city to another. Within Saxony, for example, the "Dresden jar" held approximately one US-quart (qt) or 0.94 liters (ℓ), so a nösel in Dresden was about a US-pint. The full volume of a "Leipzig jar" measured 1.2ℓ or 1.3qt; the Leipzig nösel was therefore 0.6ℓ.

The nösel was used in minor commerce, as well as in the household to measure meal, grain, and such. These units of measure were officially valid in Saxony until 1868, when the metric system was introduced. Nevertheless, the old measures have continued in private use for decades.

One interesting modification was introduced in Thuringia. There, the nösel was, by extension, also a measure of area; namely, the area of land which could be sown with one nösel of seed — or about 19.36 square yards or 16.19 square metres (0.004 acres (0.001619 ha)).

See also

• Weights and measures
• Historical weights and measures
• SI

References

• François Cardarelli: Encyclopedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. Springer, Berlin 2003. ISBN 1-85233-682-X
• Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Alte Masse, Münzen und Gewichte. . Bibliographisches Institut Mannheim/Wien/Zürich 1987. (Lizenzausgabe von VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig 1986) Template:De icon
• Wolfgang Trapp: Kleines Handbuch der Maße, Zahlen Gewichte und der Zeitrechnung. Von . Reclam Stuttgart, 2. Auflage 1996. ISBN 3-15-008737-6 Template:De icon
• Günther Scholz, Klaus Vogelsang: Kleines Lexikon: Einheiten, Formelzeichen. Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1991 ISBN 3-343-00500-2 Template:De icon

Historical work:

• Johann Christian Nelkenbrechers Taschenbuch eines Banquiers und Kaufmanns: enthaltend eine Erklärung aller ein- und ausländischen Münzen, des Wechsel-Courses, Usos, Respect-Tage und anderer zur Handlung gehörigen Dinge; mit einer genauen Vergleichung des Ellen-Maaßes, Handels-, Gold- und Silber-Gewichts, auch Maaße von Getreide und flüssigen Sachen derer fürnehmsten europäischen Handels-Plätze. Nachdruck der Ausgabe 1769: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller , Düsseldorf 2004. ISBN 3936755582 Template:De icon

External links

• Projekt zur Erschliessung historisch wertvoller Altkartenbestände Template:De icon
• Amtliche Maßeinheiten in Europa 1842 Template:De icon

• Articles needing cleanup from April 2008
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from April 2008
• Misplaced Pages pages needing cleanup from April 2008
• Systems of units
• Science and technology in Germany
• Human-based units of measure