A morgen was a unit of

measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...

of land area in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa and Taiwan. The size of a morgen varies from . It was also used in

Old Prussia Prussia (Old Prussian: ''Prūsa''; german: Preußen; lt, Prūsija; pl, Prusy; russian: Пруссия, tr=Prussiya, ''/Prussia/Borussia'') is a historical region in Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, that ranges from the Vis ...

, in the Balkans, Norway and Denmark, where it was equal to about . The word is identical with the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Dutch word for "morning", because, similarly to the Imperial acre, it denoted the acreage that could be furrowed in a morning's time by a man behind an ox or horse dragging a single bladed plough. The ''morgen'' was commonly set at about 60–70% of the ''tagwerk'' (German for "day work") referring to a full day of ploughing. In 1869, the North German Confederation fixed the morgen at a but in modern times most farmland work is measured in full hectares. The next lower measurement unit was the German "rute" or Imperial

rod Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to: Devices * Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment * Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority * Connecting rod, main, coupling, ...

but the metric rod length of never became popular. A unit derived from the Dutch morgen is still used in Taiwan today, called " kah"; 1 kah is roughly .

Germany

The following table shows an excerpt of morgen sizes as used in Germany - some morgen were used in a wider area and so they had proper names. The actual area of a morgen was considerably larger in fertile areas of Germany, or in regions where flat terrain prevails, presumably facilitating tilling. The next lower measurement unit to a morgen was usually in "Quadratruten" square rods.

Poland

The Polish terms for the unit were ''morga, mórg, jutrzyna'', the latter being a near-literal translation into old Polish.

Austria–Hungary

The term morgen was used in the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria where 1 morgen was equal to .

South Africa

Until the advent of metrication in the 1970s, the morgen was the legal unit of measure of land in three of the four pre-1995 South African provinces – the Cape Province, the Orange Free State and the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. In November 2007 the South African Law Society published a conversion factor of ''1 morgen = 0.856 532 hectares'' to be used "for the conversion of areas from imperial units to metric, particularly when preparing consolidated diagrams by compilation".

References

{{EB1911, wstitle=Morgen, volume=18, page=836 Afrikaans words and phrases Dutch words and phrases Obsolete units of measurement Units of area

Germany

Poland

Austria–Hungary

South Africa

See also

References