Brunswick cubit

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Brunswick cubit

The Braunschweiger Elle can be regarded as an early " standardized " length measure according to today's understanding .

It measures 57.07 cm and is made of metal. Since the 16th century (but probably earlier) it has been used by buyers and sellers of fabrics and robes who bought cloths in the Gewandhaus to check whether the correct size had been measured, but also for customers at Braunschweig's markets and those taking place in Braunschweig Measure to prevent overreaching or fraud .

Old Town Hall in Braunschweig

The length of a " cubit " could vary from market to market and place to place. The "small" Erfurt cubit was 40.38 cm, while the Munich cubit was 79.90 cm. There were similar deviations in the units of measurement feet , inches and others.

Due to the large number of different and in some cases drastically different dimensions that existed on German soil from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, around 500 years ago a generally accessible measure of length was introduced in Braunschweig, which is binding for all market participants and in a pillar of the old town hall let into the old town market .

Even today, the Braunschweiger Elle is still in its old place.

The Braunschweiger Elle also determined the reel circumference in the manufacture of linen yarn. Colloquially, the scope was designated reel length and was in the Duchy of Brunswick 948.75  Paris lines or 3 ½ Ellen what 2,137  meters corresponded.

literature

  • August Blind: Measure, coin and weight systems. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and Leipzig 1923, pp. 16-17.
  • Heinz Ziegler: Old weights and measures in the state of Braunschweig. In: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch 50, 1969, ISSN  0068-0745 , pp. 128-163.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Friedrich Krüger : Complete manual of the coins, measures and weights of all countries in the world. Gottfried Basse, Quedlinburg / Leipzig 1830, p. 86
  2. Ernst Georg Löhr: The latest association customs tariff from July 1, 1865 in accordance with the official inventory of goods. Verlag Carl Junge Buchhandlung, Ansbach 1865, p. III.