Joseph Schlitz (May 15, 1831 – May 7, 1875) was a German-American entrepreneur who made his fortune in the brewing industry.

Schlitz established a distribution point there and acquired a large part of the Chicago market.

[2] Schlitz perished with 334 others in the wreck of the SS Schiller in thick fog off the Isles of Scilly on May 7, 1875.

The islands lie 26 miles (42 km) west of Cornwall, England.

He was returning via New York City and Hamburg, visiting Germany.