Austrian units of measurement were used in Austria until the adoption of the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

History

In 1756, the ruling Archduchess of Austria,

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

, ordered that the Viennese ''

klafter The ''klafter'' is an historical unit of length, volume and area that was used in Central Europe. Unit of length As a unit of length, the ''klafter'' was derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms and was traditionally about 1.80 met ...

'' as well as its multiples and fractions, should be the state-defined measure of length in the Archduchy of Austria and the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. The Viennese cubit, that is 1 of the Roman

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

(cubitus or elbow), was also used as a measure of length. The law should also have applied to the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

, of which Maria Theresa was queen. However, the traditional Roman foot remained in common use in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. When the metric system was introduced by law on 23 July 1871 (which became obligatory on 1 January 1876), History of the metric system#The German Zollverein the length of the ''klafter'' (kl) was established as exactly 1.89648384 metres.

Measures

Austrian post-mile, police-mile, geographic mile = 3,910 Viennese ''

s''.

References

*''The information in this article is based on that in its German equivalent''. Systems of units

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

{{Austria-stub