The invention relates to a measuring device (1) for determining a surface contour (42) of a human or animal body (41), wherein the measuring device (1) comprises a main chain (43) having several main-chain links (44, 44′, 44″, 44′″, 44lv, 44v), which are connected to each other by a swivel joint (45), characterized in that the swivel joint (45) has a scale (13, 23, 74′) or sensors, by means of which the angle between the at least two main-chain links (44, 44′, 44″, 44′″, 44lv, 44v) can be read or detected.
