The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Schulze-Delitzsch, Hermann

SCHULZE-DELITZSCH, shoolt'sĕ-dā'lĭch, Hermann, German politician and economist: b. Delitzsch, Prussian Saxony, 29 Aug. 1808; d. Potsdam, 29 April 1883. After legal courses at Leipzig and Halle, he entered the Prussian public service; but from 1841 devoted his attention to the economic betterment of small farmers and artisans. Among his various activities, the most important was the establishment of the &ldquo;people's bank&rdquo; system, inaugurated at Delitzsch. In these banks, the subscribers made small deposits, obtaining proportional credit and dividends; the management being vested in a board composed of subscribers. In 1859 the more than 200 such banks were centrally organized under the direction of Schulze-Delitzsch. At the time of his death there were in Germany alone 3,500 branches with more than $100,000,000 in deposits; while the system had been extended to Austria, Italy, Belgium and Russia. He published &lsquo;Chapters of a German Workingman's Catechism&rsquo; (1863); &lsquo;The Laboring Classes and Associationism in Germany&rsquo; (2d ed., 1863); &lsquo;Money Advance and Credit Associations as People's Banks&rsquo; (5th ed., 1876). Consult his life by Bernstein (1879).