Gustav von Schönberg was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

.

Schönberg studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 at the universities of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 and Berlin

Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

. After successfully completing these studies in 1860, he transferred to the civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 and was promoted to Gerichtsassessor

Gerichtsassessor

In the German legal system, the obsolete designation Gerichtsassessor was held by judges or federal prosecutors, whose employment status today would be "on probation". Attainment of the second state legal qualification was always a pre-requisite...

within five years.

Subsequently, Schönberg worked at the Seminar of the Prussian Statistical Bureaux. In 1867, he took up up the role of Lecturer in Political Economy at the Prussian Agricultural Institute in Proskau, where, among other things, he was heavily involved in the establishment of several agricultural cooperatives in Schlesien.

In autumn 1868, Schönberg was appointed Professor ordinarius

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Economics at the University of Basel

University of Basel

The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...

. In 1870, he moved to the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg as an economist. Three years later, he moved again to the University of Tübingen, where, in addition to his role as Professor ordinarius in Political Science, he was also Chancellor for some years. Starting in 1887, Schönberg edited the journal Tübinger Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft (Tübingen Magazine for the Entire Political Sciences) together with Albert Schäffle

Albert Schäffle

Albert Eberhard Friedrich Schäffle , German statesman and political economist, was born at Nürtingen in Württemberg, and in 1848 became a student at the University of Tübingen....

 and Karl Viktor Fricker.

Schönberg was an engaged member of the Association for Social Politics

Verein für Socialpolitik

The Verein für Socialpolitik is an important society of economists in the German-speaking area. The Society, which covers all branches of economics was founded in 1873. Among its members were eminent economists like Gustav von Schmoller and Adolph Wagner.It annually awards the Gossen Prize to...

 and campaigned vehemently for social issues of the "labour question".

On December 7, 1907, Schönberg was named honorary citizen of the City of Tübingen. He died in 1908 at the age of 69.

Selected works

• Arbeitsämter. Eine Aufgabe des Deutschen Reichs. Berlin 1871
• Basels Bevölkerungszahl im 15. Jahrhundert. Jena 1883
• Die deutsche Freihandelsschule und die Partei der Eisenacher Versammlung vom Oktober 1872. Tübingen 1873
• Finanzverhältnisse der Stadt Basel im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert. Heidelberg 1879
• Die Frauenfrage. Basel 1872
• Handbuch der politischen Ökonomie. Tübingen 1885-86 (3 volumes, together with Benecke, Conrad, and others)
• Zur Handwerkerfrage. Heidelberg 1876
• Die Landwirtschaft der Gegenwart und das Genossenschaftsprinzip. Berlin 1869
• Die sittlich religiöse Bedeutung der sozialen Frage. 2. Aufl., Stuttgart 1876
• Die Sozialpolitik des Deutschen Reichs. Tübingen 1886
• Die Volkswirtschaft der Gegenwart im Leben und in der Wissenschaft. Basel 1869
• Die Volkswirtschaftslehre. Berlin 1873
• Zur wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung des Zunftwesens im Mittelalter. Berlin 1868