Rudolph von Delbrück

Rudolph von Delbrück (born April 16, 1817, Berlin, Prussia [now in Germany]—died Feb. 1, 1903, Berlin) was a statesman and chief executor of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s free-trade policy for Prussia and then for imperial Germany. He entered government service in 1837 and in 1848 was transferred to the ministry of commerce. Realizing the influence of commerce on political union, Delbrück induced Hanover, Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe to join the Zollverein (customs union) by 1854; he...