 The Zollpfund ceased to be legal in Germany after 1877.The Cisalpine Republic, a North Italian republic set up by Napoleon in 1797 with its capital at Milan first adopted a modified form of the metric system based in the "braccio cisalpino" (Cisalpine cubit) which was defined to be half a metre.In 1802 the Cisalpine Republic was renamed the Italian Republic, with Napoleon as its head of state.