Wikipedia
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß ( Middle High German schultheize, from Old High German sculdheizo; Latinised as scultetus or sculteus; in Switzerland: Schultheiss, also: Schultheis, Schulte or Schulze; in Italian the two offices scoltetto and sculdascio, Medieval Latin sculdasius, Polish sołtys and Romanian șoltuz) was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.
As official (villicus) it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (villicatio) to pay the taxes and perform the services due to the ruler. The name originates from this function: Schuld ‘debt’ + heißen ‘to order’.
Later, the title was also used for the head of a town (Stadtschultheiß) or village (Schulze).
Schultheiss is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
- Adrian Schultheiss (born 1988), Swedish figure skater
- Hans Schultheiss (born 1921), Swiss former rower
- Joachim Ludwig Schultheiss von Unfriedt (1678 – June 1753), German architect
- Louis A. Schultheiss (born 1925), American academic