August Friedrich Wilhelm Crome

August Friedrich Wilhelm Crome (Sengwarden, 8 June 1753 – 11 June 1833, Rödelheim) was a German economist and statistician, and Professor of Cameralism at the University of Giessen. He is known particularly for his 1782 product map of Europe, which is considered by some as the earliest known printed economic map and thematic map.

Crome was born into a middle-class family. His father Johann Friedrich Crome (1724-1802) was first headmaster in Stadthagen, then pastor, and later superintendent and official in the village of Sengwarden (allegedly he had two legendary encounters with the devil). His mother Christiane Lucretia, born Büsching, was a pastor's daughter from Stadthagen. In his autobiography (1833) Crome praised the simple life at home, which gave him "a good foundation for a physically strong constitution. Its pure unadulterated sense was connected with true religion of the heart."

Together with his brother Heinrich he was tutored by his father until university entrance. His brother Heinrich later studied law in Göttingen and became a lawyer in Kniphausen.

Thanks to the financial help of his uncle, the geographer, historian, educator and theologian Anton Friedrich Büsching in Berlin, the Count of Bentinck, and the church of his father, Crome was able to study in theology from 1772 to 1774 at the University of Halle. Through teaching at the Latin school of the orphanage, he earned money for lunch and dinner, and gained his first teaching experience.

After his years at the University of Halle, Crome became private tutor for some time in Berlin and Brandenburg. He continued his theological studies, preached frequently, as he wrote "not without applause", and passed upon a trial sermon for his theological examination. He didn't accept a position offered as a pastor, but remained a private tutor instead, as of May 1775, at the home of Baron von Bismarck in Schönhausen. One of his pupils was the father of the future Chancellor.

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