Hello Ligia,
It's the contrary, he was so tall that he should not go to Brandenburg, not to be pressed in the army there.
With the Elle it's quiet complicated, there are so many definitions of it's length.
But as it's called "Lange Elle" let's take the "Lange Elle" from Hamburg with 68,8 cm, the Zoll would be about 2,6 cm (Preussisches Zoll). So he would have been alomost 204 cm tall, so he would have been quiet a respectable soldier for a guard.
The so called "Lange Kerls", the 6th prussian infantry and guard regiment had a minimum size of 188 cm, so he would have fit nicely in that regiment.
As there are so many definitions of the unit Elle it's impossible to give a exact conversion, but for sure he was taller then the average man of his time.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elle_(Einheit)
Hope it helps
Dieter
Hello Ligia,
only a detail: take the Prussian "Elle" instead of the Hamburgian. It was approximately 66,69 cm. Consequently your ancestor was approximately 198 cm tall.
("Der gesetzliche Wert der preußischen Elle ≤ 666,9387 mm, also circa 0,0220 % mehr als der moderne theoretische Wert." Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alte_Maße_und_Gewichte_(Preußen) )
Kind regards
Detlef
Hello Detlef,
I took the Hamburgian Elle for my calculation because, according to the link to Wikipedia I posted, there was a "Lange Elle", and I could not find a "Lange Elle" in Prussia.
The year his hight is written down was 1728, just in the middle of changeing of measurement systems, so I doubt we can say for sure what definition of a Elle was used.
But i think it's undoubted that he was a tall man, even from todays perspective, and that his hight was enough reason for him not to go to Brandenburg with the risk to get pressed in the army.
Kind regards
Dieter
Hallo Ligia,
this website will give you some idea of the different values for the same-named measures within Germany 
http://www.sizes.com/units/zoll.htm
Bob
Hello Dieter,
please keep in mind that Hamburg did not belong to Prussia at that time. That is the reason why I proposed and still propose to take the Prussian Elle.
Kind regards
Detlef
