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 metres (m). In Austria, its length was, for example, 1.8965 m, in Prussia 1.88 m. In Bavaria, however, a "klafter" was only 1.751155 m, in Hesse it was significantly larger at 2.50 m. The Viennese or Lower Austrian "klafter" was fixed by Rudolf II as a measure of length as of 19 August 1588. When, in  1835, the Swiss units were defined using the metric system, 1 Swiss "klafter" (of 6  Swiss feet each of 0.30 m) corresponded exactly to 1.80 m. In Aachen, Baden, Bavaria, Bohemia, Hamburg, Leipzig, Poland, Trier and Zurich the "klafter" was exactly six feet, but in the Canton of Fribourg it measured 10 feet. In nautical units of depth, the "klafter" corresponds to the fathom. Baseline. The survey of Austria-Hungary began in 1762 with the construction of the Vienna Neustadt Baseline ("Wiener Neustädter Grundlinie") which was 6,410, later 5,000, "klafters" long, represented by 5 measuring rods of 1 "klafter" in  length made of varnished wood. Unit of volume. The old unit of dry volume for split firewood, or "Scheitholz", was based on this unit of length. A "klafter" of wood corresponded to a stack of wood with a length and height of one "klafter"; the depth of this pile corresponded to the length of the log but, as a rule was 3 feet long, that is 0.5 "klafters". The volume of a pile of logs was therefore only 0.5 cubic "klafters". This in turn corresponded, depending on the area, to 3 to 4 steres or approximately 2 to 3 m³  of wood. The old Prussian "klafter" corresponded to 3.339 m³; in Austria, a "klafter" was equivalent to 3.386 m³. By comparison the North American cord, used to measure firewood and pulpwood, is slightly larger at 3.62 m³. In Switzerland, Werdenfelser Land and parts of Lower Franconia, a "klafter" of logs corresponds to 3.0 m³ (steres) of stacked firewood since the introduction of the metric system. Usually the logs are 1 m long. One "klafter" of firewood is thus equivalent to about 2.2 m³. Hay was also sometimes measured in "klafters" in the 19th century. The cubic "klafter" was not standardised  as the length of a foot varied depending on the region. The cubic "klafter" used for wood could also differ. Here is an example of the Austrian units. The cubic foot generally had 1,728 cubic inches, each with 1,728 cubic lines, each with 1,728 cubic points. The "Rahmklafter", as the unit of timber measurement was called in Austria, was defined for long and short firewood as follows: Two "klafters" were counted for one "Stoß" or livestock unit. Unit of area. In Austria, 1 yoke ("Joch", with which the size of fields was measured) comprised 1,600 square "klafters" with sides measuring  8 by 200 "klafters", thus about 5,754 m and 0.575 ha, respectively. 1 square "klafter" (Viennese) was equivalent to 3.5979 square metres. In Croatia, the square "klafter" was used as unit of area and equalled 3.596652 m. It is sometimes still used today. In the Swiss Chur Rhine Valley and the Prättigau, the meadowland was measured in "klafters". In the adjoining Principality of Liechtenstein, the square "klafter" is still used today for the measurement of land areas. 1 m equals 0.27804 square "klafters", 1 square "klafter" equals 3.59665 m. The "klafter" as a unit of length was consequently about 1.8965  metres long. In Darmstadt, 1 square "klafter" = 100 square feet = 10,000 square inches = 6.25 square metres. Similar units in other countries. Conversion table of 1838