TheDutch units of measurement used today are those of themetric system. Before the 19th century, a wide variety of different weights and measures were used by the various Dutch towns and provinces. Despite the country's small size, there was a lack of uniformity. During theDutch Golden Age, these weights and measures accompanied the Dutch to the farthest corners of their colonial empire, including South Africa,New Amsterdam and theDutch East Indies. Units of weight included thepond,ons andlast. There was also anapothecaries' system of weights. Themijl androede were measurements of distance. Smaller distances were measured in units based on parts of the body – theel, thevoet, thepalm and theduim. Area was measured by themorgen,hont,roede andvoet. Units of volume included theokshoofd,aam,anker,stoop, andmingel.[1] At the start of the 19th century the Dutch adopted a unifiedmetric system. It was based on a modified version of the metric system, different from the system used today. In 1869, this was realigned with the internationalmetric system. These old units of measurement have disappeared, but they remain a colourful legacy of the Netherlands' maritime and commercial importance. The old units of measurement survive today in a number of Dutch sayings and expressions.
WhenCharlemagne was crownedHoly Roman Emperor in 800 AD, his empire included most of modern-day Western Europe including theNetherlands andBelgium. Charlemagne introduced a standard system of measurement across his domains using names such as "pound" and "foot". At theTreaty of Verdun, the empire was divided between Charlemagne's three grandsons.Lothair received the central portion, stretching from the Netherlands in the north toBurgundy andProvence in the south.
Further fragmentation followed and with it various parts of the empire modified the units of measures in a manner that suited the local lord. By the start of thereligious wars, the territories that made up the Netherlands, still part of the Holy Roman Empire, had passed into the lordship of theKing of Spain. Each territory had its own variant of the original Carolingian units of measure. Under theTreaty of Westphalia in 1648, the seven Protestant territories that owed a nominal allegiance to thePrince of Orange seceded from the Holy Roman Empire and established their own confederacy but each kept its own system of measures.
Apond was divided into sixteenons. Apond was roughly about the same size as a modern pound. It was generally around 480 grams, but there was much variation from region to region. The most commonly used measure of weight was the Amsterdam pound.[2]
oneGorinchem pound (Gorinchems pond) was 466 grams,
oneUtrecht heavy pound (Utrechts zwaar pond) was 497.8 grams.
After the metric system was introduced in 1816, the wordpond continued to be used, but for 1 kilogram. This doubling in size of thepond in one fell swoop created a good deal of confusion. The name "kilogram" was adopted in 1869, but thepond was only eliminated as a formal unit of measurement in 1937.Pond is still used today in everyday parlance to refer to 500 g, not far from its historical weight. The wordpond is also used when referring to the pound used in English-speaking countries.
ons, once (ounce) –1⁄16 pond = 30.881 g (1.0893oz) (with variations, now 100 g)
Anons was1⁄16 of apond. Anons was generally around 30 grams, but there was much variation. The figures provided above for the weight of the various pounds used in the Netherlands can be divided by 16 to obtain the weights of the various ounces in use. After the metric system was introduced, the wordons continued to be used, but for 100 g. Theons was eliminated as a formal unit of measurement in 1937, but it is still used today in everyday parlance to refer to 100 g. In the Netherlands today the wordons does not commonly refer to its historical weight of around 30 g (the exact weight depending on where you were), but to 100 g.
Meaning literally a "load", alast was essentially the equivalent of 120 cubic feet (3.398 m3) of shipping space.[2] Alast in theDutch East India Company (VOC) in the 17th century was about the same as 1,250 kg, becoming later as much as 2,000 kg.[3]
In the Dutch fishery, alast was a measurement of the fish loaded into the various types of fishing boat in use (e.g. abomschuit,buis,sloep orlogger). The last of these could take 35 to 40last of fish, the exact amount depending on the location. In theSouth Holland fishing villages ofScheveningen andKatwijk, it amounted to 17 crans (kantjes) ofherring; inVlaardingen 14 packed tons. A cran (kantje) held about 900 to 1,000 herring.[4][5] InFlanders alast was about 1,000 kg of herring. The term fell out of use when the herring fishery disappeared.[6]
The usualHollandse orNederlandse mijl was actually theleague, the Celtic unit of distance notionally equivalent to an hour's walk (één uur gaans),[7] varying over different terrain. This was usually standardized at the value of 20,000feet, although the foot varied over time and from region to region. TheAmsterdam foot produced a mijl of around 3.52 miles or 5.66 km, while theRhenish foot produced one of 3.9 miles or 6.28 km.
In specific contexts, a separate mile might be used. Sailors used anautical orgeographical mile (geografische mijl) based on varying divisions of an equatorial degree. The traditional version was identical to the German and Scandinavian nautical mile of 4minutes of arc—1/15 of anequatorialdegree—or about 7.4 km. Some, however, used the Portuguese maritime league (Portuguese:légua de 20 ao grau) of1/20 of a degree or about 5.56 km. The "Netherlands mile" was also used as a direct synonym for thekilometer between the beginning of Dutchmetrification in 1816 and the completion of the reforms in 1869. (Within Dutch, the wordmijl has now fallen out of use except in fixed expressions and references toEnglish and international nautical units.)
Theroede (literally, "rod") was generally somewhat smaller than the English rod, which is 16.5 feet (or 5.0292 metres). However, the length of aroede, and the number ofvoeten in aroede, varied from place to place. There could be anywhere from 7 to 21voeten in aroede. Theroede used in the Netherlands for the measurement of long distances was generally the Rijnland rod. Other rods included:[8]
oneRijnland rod (Rijnlandse roede) (= 12 Rijnland feet) was 3.767 m
oneAmsterdam rod (Amsterdamse roede) (= 13 Amsterdam feet) was 3.68 m
one Bloois rod (Blooise roede) (= 12 feet) was 3.612 m
one's-Hertogenbosch rod ('s-Hertogenbosche roede) (= 20 feet) was 5.75 m
one Hondsbos and Rijp rod (Hondsbosse en Rijp roede) was 3.42 m
one Putten rod (Puttense roede) (= 14 feet) was 4.056 m
one Schouw rod (Schouwse roede) (= 12 feet) was 3.729 m
one Kings rod (in Friesland) (Konings roede) (= 12 feet) was 3.913 m
one Gelderland rod (Geldersche roede) (= 14 feet) was 3.807 m
Today the wordroede is not in common use in the Netherlands as a unit of measurement.
The length represented by the Dutch ell was the distance of the inside of the arm (i.e. the distance from the armpit to the tip of the fingers), an easy way to measure length. The Dutch "ell", which varied from town to town (55–75 cm), was somewhat shorter than the Englishell (114.3 cm). A section of measurements is given below:[9]
oneThe Hague ell or standard ell (Haagse of gewone el) = 69.425 cm
In 1725 The Hague ell was fixed as the national standard for tax purposes and from 1816 to 1869, the wordel was used in the Netherlands to refer to the metre. In 1869 the wordmeter was adopted and theel, disappeared, both as a word and as a unit of measurement.
Thevoet ("foot") was of the same order of magnitude as theEnglish foot (30.48 cm), but its exact size varied from city to city and from province to province. There were 10, 11, 12 or 13duimen (inches) in avoet, depending on the city's local regulations. The Rijnland foot which had been in use since 1621 was most commonly usedvoet in the both Netherlands and in parts of Germany. In 1807, de Gelder measured the copy of the Rijnland foot in theLeiden observatory to be0.3139465 m while Eytelwien found that the master copy that was in use in Germany was0.313853543 m – a difference of 0.03%.[10] In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Dutch settlers took the Rijnland foot to theCape Colony. In 1859, by which time the colony had passed into British control, theCape foot was calibrated against the English foot and legally defined as 1.033 English feet (0.314858 m).[11]
The following is a partial list of the variousvoeten in use the Netherlands:[8]
oneRijnland foot (Rijnlandse voet) (= 12 Rijnland inches) was 31.4 cm
oneAmsterdam foot (Amsterdamse voet) (= 11 Amsterdam inches) was 28.3133 cm
Theduim (nl) ("thumb", but translated as "inch") was about the width of the top phalanx of the thumb of an adult man. It was very similar to the length of the English inch (2.54 cm). Its exact length and definition varied from region to region, but was usually one-twelfth of avoet, though theAmsterdamse duim was one eleventh of anAmsterdamse voet.
oneAmsterdam inch (Amsterdamse duim) was2.57393 cm
When the "Dutch metric system" (Nederlands metriek stelsel) was introduced in 1820 the wordduim was used for the centimeter, but in 1870 was dropped. Today the wordduim is not in common use in the Netherlands as a unit of measurement except when referring to the English inch. The word is still used in certain expressions such as "drieduims pijp" (three-inch pipe) and "duimstok" (ruler or gauge).
"Morgen" isDutch for "morning". A morgen of land represented the amount of land that could be ploughed in a morning. The exact size varied from region to region. The number ofroede in amorgen also varied from place to place, and could be anywhere from 150 to 900.
oneRijnland morgen (Rijnlandse morgen) = 8,516 square metres (Divided into 6 honts. A hont was divided into 100 square Rijnland rods. So there were 600 Rijnland rods in amorgen. A Rijnland rod was divided into 144 square Rijnland feet.)
During the French occupation, measurements were standardised and regional variations eliminated. Initially, the Napoleonic kingLouis Napoleon decreed in 1806 that theRijnland morgen would be used throughout the country, but this only lasted a few years. It wasn't long before the metric system was introduced. Since then land has been measured in square metres (hectares,ares andcentiares).
Hont
Ahont consisted of 100roede.The exact size of ahont of land varied from place to place, but the Rijnlandhont was 1,400 square metres. Another name forhont was "honderd", a Dutch word meaning "hundred". The wordhond is derived from the earlier Germanic wordhunda,[13] which meant "hundred" (or "dog"). After the metric system was introduced in the 19th century, the measurement fell into disuse.
Roede
A squareroede was also referred to as aroede.Roede (orroe) was both an area measurement as well as a linear measurement. The exact size of aroede depended on the length of the localroede, which varied from place to place. The most commonroede used in the Netherlands was the Rijnland rod.
one Rijnland rod (Rijnlandse roede) was 14.19 m2
one Amsterdam rod (Amsterdamse roede) was 13.52 m2
one 's-Hertogenbosch rod (Bossche roede) was 33.1 m2
one Breda rod (Bredase roede) was 32.26 m2
one Groningen rod (Groningse roede) was 16.72 m2
one Hondsbos rod (Hondsbosse roede) was 11.71 m2
When the Dutch metric system (Nederlands metriek stelsel) was introduced in 1816, the old names were used for the new metric measures. An are was referred to as a "square rod" (vierkante roede). The rod and the square rod were abandoned by 1937, but the Rijnland rod (Rijnlandse Roede), abbreviated as "RR2", is still used as a measurement of surface area for flowerbulb fields.
A squarevoet was also called avoet. The wordvoet (meaning "foot") could refer to a foot or to a square foot. The exact size of avoet depended on the length of the localvoet, which changed from region to region. The most commonly usedvoet in the Netherlands was the Rijnland foot.
The Dutch measures of volume, as with all other measures, varied from locality to locality. The modern-day equivalents are therefore only approximate and equating litres withquarts will not unduly distort the results (1 litre = 1.057 US quarts = 0.880 UK quarts)
Aokshoofd (earlier spelling:oxhoofd) was a measurement of volume representing the volume held by a large barrel of wine. The measurement was also used for vinegar, tobacco and sugar. The measurement is still used by businesses in the wine and spirits trade. There were sixankers in anokshoofd.
There is a saying in Dutch: "You can't draw clean wine from an unclean oxhead". (Men kan geen reine wijn uit een onrein okshoofd tappen.)
There were fourankers in anaam. It was used for measuring the volume of wine. The size of anaam varied from place to place. It was anything from 141 to 160 litres.
Under theCongress of Vienna in 1815, theKingdom of the Netherlands which includedBelgium andLuxembourg was established as a buffer state against France. Under the Royal decree of 27 March 1817 (Koningklijk besluit van den 27 Maart 1817), the newly formedKingdom of the Netherlands abandoned the mesures usuelles in favour of the "Dutch"metric system (Nederlands metrisch stelsel) in which metric units were given the names of units of measure that were then in use. Examples include:[15]
Length
1mijl (mile) = 1 kilometre (1 statute mile = 1.609 km)
1roede (rood) = 10 metres
1el (ell) = 1 metre (1 English ell of 45 in = 1.143 m)
1palm (hand) = 10 centimetres (1 English hand = 10.16 cm)
1duim (inch) = 1 centimetre (1 inch = 2.54 cm)
1streep (line) = 1 millimetre (1 English line = 2.12 mm)
In 1816, the Netherlands and France were the only countries in the world that were using variations of the metric system. By the late 1860s, the GermanZollverein and many other neighbouring countries had adopted the metric system, so in 1869 the modern names were adopted (Wet van 7 April 1869, Staatsblad No.57). A few of the older names remained officially in use, but they were eliminated when the system was further standardised by the 1937 Act on Weights and Measures (IJkwet). Nevertheless theons andpond are still used colloquially to always mean respectively 100 grams and 500 grams.
On 30 October 2006, the Weights and Measures Act was replaced by the Metrology Act. The organisation currently responsible for weights and measures in the Netherlands is a private company called theNederlands Meetinstituut (NMi). Literally, this means "Dutch Institute of Measures", but the organisation uses its Dutch name in English. The company was created in 1989 when the Metrology Service (Dienst van het IJkwezen) was privatised. At first, the sole shareholder was the Dutch government, but in 2001 the sole shareholder became TNO Bedrijven, a holding company for TNO, the Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research.[16][17]
^Much of the information on this page was obtained from various unfootnoted articles found on the Dutch version of Wikipedia, including "Metriek stelsel", "Nederlands metriek stelsel", "Pond (massa)", "Ons (massa)", "Last", "Medicinaal pond", "Mijl (Nederland)", "Roede (lengte)", "El (lengtemaat)", "Voet (lengte)", "Duim(lengte)", "Anker", "Aam", "Morgen" and "Roede" and "Hont". Some of the information was also found in other articles on the English Wikipedia, including "Apothecaries' system". In accordance with Wikipedia policy to avoid references to other Wikipedia articles, the source of this information is not footnoted in each sentence.
^"Home Page (English)". "De Oude Flesch" (A society dedicated to the collecting of historic Dutch bottles). Archived fromthe original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved1 May 2010.
W.C.H. Staring (1902).De binnen- en buitenlandsche maten, gewichten en munten van vroeger en tegenwoordig, met hunne onderlinge vergelijkingen en herleidingen, benevens vele andere, dagelijks te pas komende opgaven en berekeningen (in Dutch) (Vierde, herziene en veel vermeerderde druk ed.).
J.M. Verhoef (1983).De oude Nederlandse maten en gewichten [Old Dutch weights and measures] (in Dutch) (2e druk ed.). P.J. Meertens-Instituut voor dialectologie, volkskunde en naamkunde van de Koninklijke Nederlande Akademie van Wetenschappen.
Jacob de Gelder (1824).Allereerste Gronden der Cijferkunst [Introduction to Numeracy] (in Dutch). 's Gravenhage and Amsterdam: de Gebroeders van Cleef. pp. 163–176. Retrieved2 March 2011.
