Meile

Meile is a historical unit of length used in German-speaking regions from the Middle Ages into the early modern period. It derives from the Latin mille passus (a thousand paces) and is related to the broader family of regional miles found throughout Europe. The exact length of a Meile varied by region and era, but it was generally in the order of several kilometers. Commonly cited values place it around 6 to 8 kilometers, with many later sources recording about 7.5 kilometers (roughly 4.66 miles) as a typical approximation, though regional standards differed.

In practice, the Meile served as a practical measure for travel distances, road planning, and navigation. It was often subdivided into smaller units such as halves and quarters, but the precise subdivision depended on local customary law and measurement traditions. Road signs, maps, and itineraries from historical periods sometimes list distances in Meilen, reflecting the metric system's gradual adoption that began in the 18th and 19th centuries.

With the plan to standardize measurements and, ultimately, the widespread adoption of the metric system, the Meile fell out of official use in most German-speaking areas during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, it remains of interest primarily to historians, cartographers, and genealogists studying archival documents, old maps, and place-name records. The Meile thus survives as a historical artifact illustrating how regional units of length varied before modern standardization.