Hoof tail

The hoof tail was a German measure of length and was used as a field measure.

• 1 hoofed tail = 8.95 meters

A hoof is an old German square measure (see there for details) that varies in size in different areas (mostly between 30 and 80 acres; i.e. 7.5 to 20 hectares). The Flemish hooves with approx. 16.8 ha, the Franconian hooves with approx. 24 ha and the Hagenhufe with approx. 20 ha. Depending on the quality of the soil, it was assumed that one Hufe of land could support a farming family.

The hooves were mostly long strips of farmland that began on the village road - where the farm was also located - and then stretched 500 meters at a width of 200 meters. Often there was forest at the end of the hoof, from which wood was taken for tools and for heating and cooking. In the course of time, a coherent whole hoof that a family tilled became, through barter, dowry, sale, etc., a tangle of more or less large pieces of land, which could eventually be spread over the entire village boundary. Nevertheless, the total area that was taxable was calculated according to the number of hooves. Because at the same time the hoof was also a tax term, that is, for each hoof consisting of arable land, pastures, possibly forest and the homestead, a certain amount had to be paid. Anyone who managed a whole hoof was a Hüfner or Vollhüfner. A split hoof was accordingly worked on by two half-hoofers. Of course there were also Zweihüfner, Dreihüfner etc. Plots that were smaller and because of their size were not sufficient for full income were called Büdner or Kätner, depending on the area.

literature

• Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old measures, coins and weights: a lexicon . Licensed edition of the Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , p. 127 .