Adelheid
Luise "Adele" Spitzeder; 9 February 1832 – 27 or 28 October
1895), also known by her stage name Adele Vio, was a German actress,
folk singer, and confidence trickster. Initially a promising young actress,
Spitzeder became a well-known private banker in 19th-century Munich when her
theatrical success dwindled. Running what was possibly the first recorded Ponzi
scheme, she offered large returns on investments by continually using the money
of new investors to pay back the previous ones. At the height of her success,
contemporary sources considered her the wealthiest woman in Bavaria.
Adele Spitzeder
Opening her bank in 1869, Spitzeder managed to fend off attempts to discredit her for a few years before authorities were able to bring her to trial in 1872. Because Ponzi schemes were not yet illegal, she was convicted instead of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money and sentenced to three years in prison. Her bank was closed and 32,000 people lost 38 million gulden, the equivalent of almost 400 million euros in 2017 money, causing a wave of suicides. Her personal fortune in art and cash was stripped from her.
After her release from prison in 1876, Spitzeder lived off benefactors and unsuccessfully tried to act again in Altona and Berlin. She left Germany for Vienna but police there prevented her engagement, so she returned to Munich in 1878 to publish her memoir. She was arrested again in 1880 for attempting to open a new bank without having the necessary permits but later released without charges. Spitzeder performed as a folk singer, living off friends and benefactors, but she never left her criminal life completely behind her, resulting in further trials and periods of incarceration. She died of cardiac arrest on 27 or 28 October 1895 in Munich.
Spitzeder never married, but it was noted that she carried on more than one lesbian relationship. Outwardly, she maintained the persona of a pious Christian woman who helped the poor, which aided the success of her business.
Public Image
Spitzeder cultivated an image of a resolute, pious woman concerned for the public welfare. During banking hours at her house in Schönfeld Street she was often seen sitting on an elevated leather chair in the middle of her banking office wearing a red nightgown and a cross around her neck, demonstratively signing notes for the money she received. In the halls of the building, cutouts of the negative articles from the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten were posted in an attempt to demonstrate that she had nothing to fear from such coverage. The long lines of waiting customers were often entertained by musical groups playing outside the bank and she provided free meals and drinks at the tavern "Wilhelm Tell" next door. She only allowed deposits after all payouts had been processed, which often took until noon, thereby creating long queues of waiting customers that enforced the impression that they should consider themselves lucky to be allowed to give her money. Customers that reached her were treated with crass and direct language, with Spitzeder telling them that she did not call them nor would she give them any securities. Her flaunted honesty combined with her demonstrative warnings and the focus on entertaining her customers served to enhance her standing with the common people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Spitzeder
Opening her bank in 1869, Spitzeder managed to fend off attempts to discredit her for a few years before authorities were able to bring her to trial in 1872. Because Ponzi schemes were not yet illegal, she was convicted instead of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money and sentenced to three years in prison. Her bank was closed and 32,000 people lost 38 million gulden, the equivalent of almost 400 million euros in 2017 money, causing a wave of suicides. Her personal fortune in art and cash was stripped from her.
After her release from prison in 1876, Spitzeder lived off benefactors and unsuccessfully tried to act again in Altona and Berlin. She left Germany for Vienna but police there prevented her engagement, so she returned to Munich in 1878 to publish her memoir. She was arrested again in 1880 for attempting to open a new bank without having the necessary permits but later released without charges. Spitzeder performed as a folk singer, living off friends and benefactors, but she never left her criminal life completely behind her, resulting in further trials and periods of incarceration. She died of cardiac arrest on 27 or 28 October 1895 in Munich.
Spitzeder never married, but it was noted that she carried on more than one lesbian relationship. Outwardly, she maintained the persona of a pious Christian woman who helped the poor, which aided the success of her business.
Public Image
Spitzeder cultivated an image of a resolute, pious woman concerned for the public welfare. During banking hours at her house in Schönfeld Street she was often seen sitting on an elevated leather chair in the middle of her banking office wearing a red nightgown and a cross around her neck, demonstratively signing notes for the money she received. In the halls of the building, cutouts of the negative articles from the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten were posted in an attempt to demonstrate that she had nothing to fear from such coverage. The long lines of waiting customers were often entertained by musical groups playing outside the bank and she provided free meals and drinks at the tavern "Wilhelm Tell" next door. She only allowed deposits after all payouts had been processed, which often took until noon, thereby creating long queues of waiting customers that enforced the impression that they should consider themselves lucky to be allowed to give her money. Customers that reached her were treated with crass and direct language, with Spitzeder telling them that she did not call them nor would she give them any securities. Her flaunted honesty combined with her demonstrative warnings and the focus on entertaining her customers served to enhance her standing with the common people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Spitzeder
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