Elberfeld system

The Elberfeld system was a plan for relieving the poor in Germany.

History

The reform began in 1800, when, dissatisfied with existing conditions, the city of Elberfeld appointed six visitors to investigate applications for relief. The visitors were increased to 12 the following year. In 1802 there was a great increase.

The city was divided into eight districts and these districts into four sections, and a board of supervisors chosen. The system was further extended in 1841. In 1850, dissatisfaction having arisen in several quarters, the Lutheran church attempted to do the work. Matters were not improved.

In 1852, a plan proposed by a banker, Daniel von Heydt, was put in operation. The city was divided into 364 precincts, and over each was placed an unsalaried almoner whose duty was to investigate each applicant for aid and to make visits every two weeks as long as aid was given. Fourteen precincts formed a district. The almoners met every two weeks under direction of an unpaid overseer to discuss the cases and to vote needed relief. Those proceedings were reported to the directors, being the mayor as ex-officio chairman, four councilmen, and four citizens (also unpaid), who met the day following to review and supervise the work throughout the city. In emergency cases the almoner might furnish assistance.

Relief was granted in money according to a fixed schedule for two weeks at a time, any earning the family may have garnered being deducted. Tools were furnished when advisable. The system gave great satisfaction; the expenses in proportion to the population gradually decreased, and the condition of the poor is said to have improved. The essential principles of the Elberfeld system found application in the public-relief administration of the cities of the Rhineland, notably in Cologne, Crefeld, Düsseldorf, AixlaChapelle, and Remscheid. A similar system had been employed in Hamburg. The Elberfeld system influenced the reorganization of relief systems in most of the German cities. Attempts to introduce the system in non-German cities were unsuccessful.

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