{{short description|Unit of area}} {{other uses}} {{infobox unit | bgcolour = | name = morgen | image = | caption = | standard = German customary units | quantity = area | symbol = Mg | namedafter = The amount of land that can be tilled in the morning hours with a single-furrow horse or ox plough (measured from morning to noon).<ref name="HSEV1" /><ref name="DDN1" /> | units1 = SI base units | inunits1 = {{val|2500|ul=m2|fmt=commas}} | units2 = Imperial unit system | inunits2 = {{convert|2500|m2|yd2|sigfig=3|disp=out}} }}
A '''morgen''' (Mg) is a historical, but still occasionally used, German unit of area used in agriculture.<ref name="HSEV1">{{cite report |access-date=2024-12-30 |date=2019 |location=Seckenheim |institution=Heimatmuseums Seckenheim e.V. |title=Gemarkung Seckenheim |trans-title=Marking Seckenheim |url=https://heimatmuseum-seckenheim.de/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20200301_Vortrag_Gemarkung.pdf |lang=de }}</ref> Officially, it is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the hectare.<ref name="HSEV1" /> While today it is approximately equivalent to the Prussian ''morgen'', measuring 25 ares or 2,500 square meters ({{convert|2500|m2|acre|disp=out}}), its area once ranged from {{convert|1906|to|11780|m2|acre}}, but usually between {{convert|0.25|to|0.5|ha|acre}}.<ref name="HSEV1" /> In the 20th century, the quarter hectare became standard for one ''morgen''.<ref name="HSEV1" /> The Morgen unit of land measurement was also used in the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, and parts of the Dutch colonial empire, such as South Africa. It was also used in the Balkans, Norway, and Denmark, where it was equal to about {{convert|2/3|acre|ha|order=flip}}.
thumb|right|A farmer with a two-horse team and a single-furrow plough The word is identical to the German and Dutch word for "morning" because the measurement was determined by the area that can be ploughed with a single-furrow horse or ox plough in one morning (measured from morning to noon).<ref name="HSEV1"/><ref name="DDN1">Duden; Definition of ''Morgen'' (in German). [https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Morgen_Tageszeit]</ref> The ''morgen'' was usually defined as a rectangle with sides of an even number of local rods, as turning while ploughing was to be avoided as much as possible.
The area measure of the morgen varied regionally,<ref name="HSEV1" /> but it was usually between one-fifth to half a hectare ({{val|2000|to|5000|u=m2|fmt=commas}}). In northern Germany, there were also morgens of 6,000 to 9,000 square meters, and in the marshes, up to over 11,000 square meters. With the standardization in the late 19th century (the metrified morgen introduced by the North German Confederation in 1869), four morgens equaled one hectare in the German Empire, which is why the morgen was sometimes referred to as a quarter hectare (vha) to distinguish it from traditional measures.
In the 20th century, the morgen, with its size of 25 ares, established itself as an agricultural area measure. However, with the increasing average farm size (from 2005 to 2015 by 36.4% to 59.6 hectares or 238.4 morgens), it has lost significance compared to the hectare.<ref name="HSEV1" /> This is particularly evident where the average farm size in eastern Germany is around 1000 morgens.
The ''morgen'' was commonly set at about 60–70% of the ''tagwerk'' (German for "day's work") that referred to a full day of ploughing. The next lower measurement unit was the German "rute" or Imperial rod, but the metric rod length of {{convert|5|m}} never became popular.
== Comparative measures to the Morgen in German-speaking regions == The following table shows an excerpt of morgen sizes as used in German-speaking regions. Some morgen were used in a wider area and thus 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.
{| class="wikitable" |- bgcolor=#efefef |+ German sizes of morgen ! Region (Timespan) || Name || Size in m<sup>2</sup> || original definition (QR = Quadratruten) |- ! - metric - || Viertelhektar = vha | 2,500 || (100 QR)<!--5-m-Rute hat sich nicht durchgesetzt--> |- | Homburg || | 1,906 || 160 QR |- | Franconia || | 2,000 || |- | Frankfurt || Feldmorgen | 2,025 || 160 QFeldR |- | Oldenburg || | 2,256 || |- | Kassel || Acker | 2,386 || 150 QR |- | Prussia (1816–1869) ||rowspan="2"| Magdeburger Morgen |rowspan="2"| 2,553.22 ||rowspan="2"| 180 QR |- | Waldeck-Pyrmont |- | Bremen || | 2,572 || 120 QR |- | Schaumburg || | 2,585 || 120 QR |- | Hanover (before 1836) || | 2,608 || 120 QR |- | Hanover (after 1836) ||<!--Calenberger Mg?--> | 2,621 || 120 QR |- | Cologne Rhineland ||Rheinländischer Morgen | 3,176 || 150 QR |- | Bergisches Land ||Bergischer Morgen | 2,132 || 120 QR |- | Württemberg (1806–1871) || | 3,152 || 384 QR |- | Frankfurt || Waldmorgen | 3,256 || 160 QWaldR |- | Braunschweig || Waldmorgen | 3,335 || 160 QR |- | Bavaria || Tagwerk | 3,407 || 400 QR |- | Baden || | 3,600 || 400 QR<!-- |- | Hamburg || Geestscheffel | 4,205 || 200 QGR--> |- | Oldenburg || Jück | 4,538 || 160 QR |- | Danzig || | ca. 5,000 || 300 QR |- | Holstein || Tonne (Tønde) | 5,046 || 240 QGeestR |- | Schleswig-Holstein || Steuertonne | 5,466 || 260 QGeestR |- | || Kulmischer Morgen | 5,601.17 || 300 QR |- | East Frisia || Diemat (h) | 5,674 || <!--4/3 Grasen = 6 Hunt--> |- | Mecklenburg || | 6,500 || 300 QR |- | Altes Land (Harburg & Stade) || | 8,185 || |- | Hamburg || | 9,658 || 600 QGR |- | Kehdingen || Marschmorgen | 10,477 || |- | Altes Land || | 10,484 || 480 QR<!--4 hannoversche Morgen--> |- | Land of Hadeln || | 11,780 || 540 QR<!--12 Himten Saat = {{frac|4|1|2}} calenb, Mg--> |}
== Poland == The Polish terms for the unit were ''morga, mórg, jutrzyna'', the latter being a near-literal translation into old Polish.
{| class="wikitable" |+Comparison of Area units in Lesser Poland 1791-1876, '''1 Franconian morg = 1 wiener morg''' (system morgi dolnoaustriackiej) !Unit||Miara (Unit)||Sążeń<sup>2</sup> (Viennese fathom<sup>2</sup>)||Łokieć<sup>2</sup> (Viennese ell<sup>2</sup>)||m<sup>2</sup> |-align="right" |'''1 morg''' (morgen) (= 0.5755 ha) | 3 | 1,600 | 6,439.02 | 5,754.64 |-align="right" |'''1 miara''' (Unit) (= 19.18 are) | | 533.33 | 2,929.07 | 1,918 |-align="right" |'''1 sążeń<sup>2</sup> wiedeński''' (Viennese fathom) | | | 4.0237 | 3.6 |-align="right" |'''1 łokieć<sup>2</sup> wiedeński''' (Viennese el<sup>2</sup>) | | | | 0.9 |}
== Austria–Hungary == The term "morgen" was used in the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria where 1 morgen was equal to {{convert|2/3|acre|m2|order=flip}}.<ref>[http://www.torugg.org/History/history_of_ukrainians_in_canada.html THE HISTORY OF UKRAINIANS IN CANADA]. TUGG.</ref>
== 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. 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".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.lawsoc.co.za/webs/surveyorgeneral/2007_11_area_conversion.doc |title = Instructions for the Conversions of Areas to Metric |publisher = Law Society of South Africa |date = November 2007 |accessdate = 2010-03-10 |archive-date = 2018-03-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180320105433/https://www.lawsoc.co.za/webs/surveyorgeneral/2007_11_area_conversion.doc |url-status = dead }}</ref>
== See also == * Arpent * Dutch units of measurement * German obsolete units of measurement * List of unusual units of measurement
== References == {{reflist}}
{{EB1911|wstitle=Morgen|volume=18|page=836}}
Category:Afrikaans words and phrases Category:Dutch words and phrases Category:Obsolete units of measurement Category:Units of area