Continental Europe
Before the advent of metrication, units called "stone" (German: Stein; Dutch: steen) were used in many North-Western European countries. Its value, usually between 3 and 10 kg, varied from city to city and sometimes from commodity to commodity. The number of local "pounds" in a stone also varied from city to city. During the early 19th century, states such as the Netherlands (including Belgium) and the South Western German states which had redefined their system of measures using the kilogramme des Archives as a reference for weight (mass) also redefined their stone to align it with the kilogram.
This table shows a selection of stones from various North European Continental cities:
| City | Modern Country | Description | Weight of stone in kilograms |
Weight of stone in local pounds |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dresden | Germany | stein | 10.15 | 22 | Before 1841 |
| 10.0 | 20 | From 1841 onwards | |||
| Mecklenburg-Strelitz Berlin |
Germany | schwerer Stein | 10.296 | 22 | heavy stone |
| leichter Stein | 5.148 | 11 | light stone | ||
| Danzig (Gdańsk) Königsberg (Kaliningrad) |
Poland Russia |
grosser Stein | 15.444 | 33 | large stone |
| kleiner Stein | 10.296 | 22 | small stone | ||
| Bremen | Germany | Steinflachs | 9.97 | 20 | stone of flax |
| Stein Wolle und Federn | 4.985 | 10 | stone of wool and feathers | ||
| Oldenburg | Germany | Stein Flachs | 9.692 | 20 | stone of flax |
| Steinwolle und Federn | 4.846 | 10 | stone of wool and feathers | ||
| Kraków | Poland | Stein | 10.137 | 25 | |
| Osnabrück | Germany | Stein | 4.941 | 10 | |
| Amsterdam | Netherlands | Steen | 3.953 | 8 | Before 1817 |
| 3 | 3 | "Metric stone" (after 1817) | |||
| Karlsruhe | Germany | Stein | 5.00 | 10 | |
| Leipzig, Weimar |
Germany | Stein | 10.287 | 22 | |
| Breslau (Wrocław) | Poland | Stein | 9.732 | 24 | |
| Antwerpen | Belgium | Steen | 3.761 | 8 | |
| Prague | Czech Republic | Stein | 10.29 | 20 | |
| Solothurn | Switzerland | Stein | 5.184 | 10 | |
| Stockholm | Sweden | Sten | 13.60 | 32 | (32 Skålpund) |
| Warsaw | Poland | Kamieni | 10.14 | 25 | 25 Funtów |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | Kamieni | 14.992 | 40 | 40 Funtów |
| Vienna | Austria | Stein | 11.20 | 20 |
Read more about this topic: Stone (unit)
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimonyunaware, alas, of the fact that Europes declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (19061975)