The Ruthe (translated yard by Cardarelli, but better rendered rod, which is both closer to representing its length and etymologically correct) was a Prussian unit of length or distance prior to 1872, when the German Empire was formed, and all traditional local systems were abolished in Germany. (Note that the current German spelling would write the word as Rute, without the "h"; however, this is the actual spelling as used in the nineteenth century.)