The units of measurement of German-speaking countries consist of a variety of units, with varying local standard definitions. While many were made redundant with the introduction of the metric system, some of these units are still used in everyday speech and even in stores and on street markets as shorthand for similar amounts in the metric system. For example, some customers ask for one pound (ein Pfund) of something when they want 500 grams.

Efforts to consolidate the many local systems led to the North German Confederation's Weights and Measures Ordinance of 17 August 1868. It set the metre and kilogram as the common standards and, after a transition period, made the metric system mandatory from 1 January 1872. For merchants, this meant converting or replacing existing measures, weights, and scales; instruments approved for trade use were checked against the new official standards and stamped as verified.

The metric system became compulsory in Austria on 1 January 1876.

Some obsolete German units have names similar to units that were traditionally used in other countries, and that are still used in a limited number of cases in both the United Kingdom (imperial units) and the United States (United States customary units).

German system

Before the introduction of the metric system in Germany, almost every town had its own definitions of the units shown below. Often, towns posted local definitions on a wall of the city hall. For example, the front wall of the old city hall of Rudolstadt (still standing) has two marks that show the "Rudolstädter Elle", the proper length of the Elle in that city. Supposedly, by 1810, there were 112 different standards for the Elle around Germany. "... the measure of cloth, for example, was elle which in each region stood for a different length. An elle of textile material brought in Frankfurt would get you 54.7 cm of cloth, in Mainz 55.1 cm, in Nuremberg 65.6 cm, in Freiburg 53.5 cm ..."

Length

Meile (mile)

A German geographic mile (geographische Meile) is defined as of an equatorial degree, equal to . 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 (the Reichsmeile), but before then there were many local and regional variants (of which some are shown below):

Some kinds of Meile Place Metricequivalent NotesBreslau (Wrocław) Used throughout Silesia Bavaria (Bayern) Equivalent to of an equatorial degree, or 25,406 Bavarian feet. Württemberg Reichsmeile 'imperial mile' – New mile when the metric system was introduced. Prohibited by law in 1908. Anhalt Denmark, Prussia 24,000 Prussian feet. Also known as "(Dänische/Preußische) Landmeile". In 1816, King Frederick William III of Prussia adopted the Danish mile at , or .Saxony (Sachsen) In the 17th–18th centuries or so, = ; later (as in Prussia and the rest of Germany).Schleswig-Holstein Baden before 1810, before 1871Hesse-Kassel Lippe-Detmold Saxony (Sachsen) (in the 19th century , see above). Westfalia (Westfalen) but also Oldenburg Rhineland (Rheinland) Palatinate (Pfalz) Osnabrück/France Wiesbaden

Wegstunde One hour's travel, used up to the 19th century. In Germany  Meile or . After 1722 in Saxony  post mile = 1000 Dresden rods = . In Switzerland .

Fuß (foot) The Fuß or German foot varied widely from place to place in the German-speaking world, and also with time. In some places, more than one type of Fuß was in use. One source from 1830 gives the following values:

Some kinds of Fuß Place Name Local equivalent Metric equivalent   Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) Feldmaßfuß Klafter Aachen Baufuß Ruthe Aargau, Canton of Fuß Aichstadt, Bavaria old Fuß Altona, Holstein Fuß Anspach, Bavaria Werkfuß Appenzell, Canton of Fuß Aschaffenburg, Bavaria Fuß Augsburg, Bavaria Werkschuh Baden Reichsfuß 10 Zoll, Ruthe Baireuth, Bavaria Fuß Bamberg, Bavaria Fuß Basel, Canton of Stadtschuh Bavaria Fuß Bergamo, Austria Fuß Cavezzo Berlin Prussian Reichsfuß Bern, Canton of gewöhnlicher Fuß 12 Zoll Bern, Canton of Steinbrecherfuß 13 Zoll Bohemia Fuß or Stopa Bozen, Austria Tyroler-Fuß Braunschweig (Brunswick) Fuß Ruthe Bremen Fuß Ruthe Breslau old Silesian Fuß Ruthe Bünden, Canton of churischer Fuß Calenberg Land Fuß Ruthe Carlsruhe (as Baden) Fuß Cassel, Hessen Fuß Ruthe Cleve, Prussia Fuß Cöln am Rhein (Cologne), Prussia Fuß Cremona, Austria old Fuß Danzig, Prussia old Fuß Elle Darmstadt Hessian Reichsfuß 10 Zoll Darmstadt old Darmstadt Fuß 12 Zoll Dordrecht, Netherlands Fuß Dresden, Saxony Fuß Duderstadt, Hanover Fuß Durlach (as Baden) Fuß Durlach old Fuß Emden, Hanover Fuß Erfurt, Prussia old Fuß Feldruthe, Bauruthe Frankfurt am Main Fuß Freiburg, Canton of Werkfuß 12 Zoll, Werkklafter Friedberg in der Wetterau, Oberhessen Fuß Friedrichsstadt, Denmark Fuß Fulda, Kurhessen Werkfuß Elle Genf (Geneva), Canton of Fuß Ruthe Gießen, Oberhessen Fuß Glarus, Canton of Fuß Glatz, Prussia Werkfuß Göttingen, Hanover Fuß Gotha, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Fuß Halle an der Saale, Prussia Werkfuß Halle an der Saale, Prussia Feldfuß Hamburg Fuß Klafter, Geestruthe Hanau, Hessen Fuß Ruthe Hanover, capital of the Kingdom Fuß Elle, Ruthe Heidelberg, Baden Fuß Heilbronn, Württemberg Fuß Heiligenstadt, Prussia old Fuß Herford, Prussia old Fuß Hildesheim, Hanover Fuß Ruthe Holstein Fuß Innsbruck, Austria Tyroler-Fuß Königsberg, Prussia old Fuß Ruthe Krakau Fuß or Stopa Lausanne, Canton of Waadt Fuß Leipzig, Saxony gewöhnlicher Fuß Elle, Klafter, Ruthe Lemberg, Austria Galizian Fuß Lemgo, Lippe Fuß Lindau, Bavaria Fuß Lindau, Bavaria Feldmeßschuh, Bauschuh Linz, Austria Fuß Klafter Lübeck Fuß Lucern, Canton of Fuß (for wood measure) Lucern, Canton of Zimmerwerkschuh Lucern, Canton of Bau- and Feldmeßschuh Milan, Austria old Fuß Mainz, Hessen Werkfuß Mainz, Hessen Kameralfuß (for firewood) Mannheim, Baden Fuß Mecklenburg Fuß Elle, Ruthe Metz, France old Fuß Mühlhausen, Prussia Fuß Ruthe Neufchatel, Principality of Werkfuß Neufchatel, Principality of Feldmeßfuß Nordhausen, Prussia old Fuß Nuremberg, Bavaria Stadtfuß Ruthe Nuremberg, Bavaria Artillery Fuß Oldenburg Fuß Ruthe Osnabrück, Hanover Fuß Padua, Austria Fuß Cavezzo Prague, Austria Bohemian Fuß or Česká stopa Prussia, Rheinland Reichsfuß Ratzeburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Fuß Regensburg, Bavaria Fuß Rheinbaiern Fuß 12 Zoll, metre Rheinland Rheinländischer Fuß Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Fuß Elle, Ruthe Sanct Gallen, Canton of Fuß Schaffhausen, Canton of Fuß Silesia (Austrian part) Fuß Solothurn, Canton of Fuß Stade, Hanover Fuß Stettin, Prussia old Pomeranian Fuß Stralsund, Prussia old Fuß Strassburg, France Fuß Stuttgart Reichsfuß Elle, Ruthe Tessin, Canton of Fuß Thorn, Prussia old Fuß Trento, Austria Fuß Trier, Prussia Land- and Werkfuß Trier, Prussia Waldfuß Trier, Prussia Zimmermannsfuß Tyrol, Austria Fuß Udine, Austria Fuß Ulm, Württemberg Fuß Venice, Austria Fuß Passo Verden, Hanover Fuß Verona, Austria Fuß Cavezzo Vienna, Austria Fuß Klafter Waadt, Canton of Fuß 10 Zoll, Ruthe Wallis, Canton of Fuß Weimar Fuß Wesel, Prussia old Fuß Wetzlar, Prussia old Fuß Wiesbaden, Nassau Fuß Wismar, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Fuß Wittenberg, Prussia old Fuß Worbis, Prussia old Fuß Württemberg Reichsfuß Elle, Ruthe Würzburg, Bavaria Fuß Elle Zug, Canton of Fuß Zug, Canton of Steinfuß Zürich, Canton of Fuß Klafter, Ruthe Except where noted, based on Niemann (1830). The values of the other local units mentioned also varied widely.

Rute (rod)

The Rute or Ruthe is of Carolingian origin, and was used as a land measure. Many different kinds of Ruthe were used at various times in various parts of the German-speaking world. They were subdivided into differing numbers of local Fuß, and were of many different lengths. One source from 1830 lists the following: Some kinds of RuthePlaceNameLocal equivalentMetric equivalentAachen (Aix-la-Capelle) Feldmeßruthe 16 Fuß Baden Ruthe 10 Fuß Basel, Canton of Ruthe 16 Fuss Bern, Canton of Ruthe 10 Fuss Braunschweig (Brunswick) Ruthe 16 Fuß Bremen Ruthe 8 Ellen or 16 Fuß Calenberg Ruthe 16 Fuß Cassel, Hessen Ruthe 14 Fuß Hamburg Geestruthe 16 Fuß Hamburg Marschruthe 14 Fuß Hannover Ruthe 16 Fuß Lever, Oldenburg Ruthe 20 Fuß Mecklenburg Ruthe 16 Fuß Nuremberg, Bavaria Ruthe 16 Fuß Oldenburg Ruthe 20 Fuß Prussia, Rheinland Ruthe 12 Fuß Saxony Ruthe 16 Leipziger Fuß Württemberg Reichsruthe 10 Fuß Württemberg old Ruthe 16 Fuß Zürich, Canton of Ruthe 10 Fuss Except where noted, based on Niemann (1830). The value of the local Fuß also varied widely.

Klafter

Typically 6 feet. Regional variants from in Baden to in Switzerland.

Lachter

The Lachter was the most common unit of length used in mining in German-speaking areas. Its exact length varied from place to place but was roughly between .

Elle (ell) Distance between elbow and fingertip. In the North, often 2 feet, in Prussia  feet, in the South variable, often  feet. The smallest known German Elle is , the longest .

Zoll (inch) Usually foot, but also and .

Linie Usually  inch, but also .

Volume Quent It is 1/5 of any measure.

Malter It is a larger volume unit of around one large sack of wheat that a person could carry. However, the exact volumetric size and weight were locally very different in each feudal state. For more details, see .

Klafter

For firewood, .

Nösel In general, the Nösel (also spelled Össel) was a measure of liquid volume equal to half a Kanne ("jar," "jug," "bottle," "can"). Volume often varied depending on whether it was beer or wine. Its subdivisions were the Halbnösel ("Half-Nösel") and the Viertelnösel ("Quarter-Nösel").

An Ahm was a measure used for wine or beer. An Eimer ("Bucket") was a container that was a fifth of an Ahm. A Viertel ("Fourth") was a fourth of an Eimer. A Stübchen ("Cozy Room"), also called a Stauf, was a measure of wine or beer that was equal to two Kannen. It was the approximate amount of wine or beer that could serve an entire room in a tavern. A Kanne was a measure of wine or beer large enough to fill a humpen (tankard) or krug (wine flagon or beer pitcher). A Quartier ("quarter-measure") was a fourth of a Stübchen. A Nösel was a cup or mug of wine or beer.

Actual volumes so measured, however, varied from one state or even one city to another. Within Saxony, for example, the "Dresden jar" held approximately , so a nösel in Dresden was about . The full volume of a "Leipzig jar" measured ; the Leipzig nösel was therefore . Ahm = Eimer = Viertel = Stübchen / Stauf = Kannen = Quartiers = 1 Nösel = 2 Halbnöseln = 4 Viertelnöseln

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 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 .

Mass

Pfund

Pfund (Prussia): Zollpfund:

Mark

Pfund. Equal to (Cologne).

Unze Pfund. Roughly equal to .

Loth Pfund, or Mark. Equal to (Prussia).

Quentchen Pfund. Roughly equal to .

Quint Pfund. Roughly equal to .

Pfennig Pfund. Roughly equal to .

Gran Pfund. Roughly equal to .

See also Historical weights and measures List of obsolete units of measurement SI Weights and measures

References Niemann, Friedrich (1830) Vollständiges Handbuch der Münzen, Masse, und Gewichte aller Länder der Erde fur Kaufleute, Banquiers ...: in alphabetischer Ordnung. Quedlinburg und Leipzig, G. Basse. p. 286

Bibliography François Cardarelli: Encyclopedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. Springer, Berlin 2003.