A Knoppler paddle is a short, stiff leather hand held implement used to administer corporal punishment in schools and prisons in Germany and nearby countries. Normally 12 to 16 inches (300 to 410 mm) and approximately 5 inches (130 mm) wide, the slapper end is shaped with a rectangular hitting area. It is sometimes favoured in the BDSM scene as a warm up implement. For practical reasons this item is usually constructed from leather, though wooden versions are available. The use of the Knoppler paddle has now spread worldwide and was adopted extensively in North America possibly because of immigration from Europe during the early 1930s.
A similar shape of wooden paddle was used to pat butter into blocks and it is thought that all paddles originate from this farm implement.