An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schultheiß
Schultheiß, masculine, ‘chief magistrate,’ from Middle High German schultheiȥe (schultheitze), masculine, ‘he who assigns duties, judge,’ Old High German scultheiȥô, scultheitzo, masculine, ‘tribunus, praefectus, centurio.’ It is remarkable that “this term, purely judicial in its etymological origin, should have been transferred to captains of an army” in Old High German, and “that this judicial term does not appear in the older laws, except in the Lombardic, although it has been diffused from the Middle Ages till the present day throughout the greatest part of Germany.” Compare Low German schulte, from schuldhete, Dutch schout (from scholdhete), ‘village magistrate,’ Frisian skeldata, skelta; Anglo-Saxon sčyldhœ̂ta; the compound is wanting in Gothic. The Modern High German form Schulze (also as a proper name; compare Low German Schulte) is based on Middle High German schuldheize (as well as -heiȥe), Old High German schuldheizo (as well as -heiȥo), and ultimately on Gothic *haitja (tj produces tz, but ti changes into ȥi, see Grüße, Weizen).