19th Century

IJkwezen

The 1820 reintroduction of the metric system in the Netherlands introduced a standard decimal system for weights and measures. With that standardisation came the need for a regulating authority to maintain accurate and universal use of the new weights and measures. The existing verification system, fragmented in cities and provinces, was therefore now centralised and made uniform at the same time as the introduction of the new metric law on 1 January 1821.

However, the old system proved inadequate for modern needs in the following period. This resulted in a new verification law, which was enacted in 1870. In this period, in 1873, the Verification Service (‘IJkwezen’) was founded, the predecessor of the current NMi. At that time, Verification Officers carried out calibration work at 19 offices across the Netherlands.

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