Der Gründerkrach: Vienna stock exchange crash

Background. The Gründerzeit, or 'founders' period', was a phase of European economic history in mid- and late-19th-century Germany and Austria-Hungary, between industrialization and the great stock market crash of 1873. Its name derives from the many company incorporations in the years between the Franco-Prussian War and the panic of 1873. After that war, a massive influx of capital arrived from France's payment of war reparations, and the Vienna exchange proved unable to sustain a bubble of false expansion, insolvencies, and dishonest manipulations.

The Crash. On 9 May 1873, the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed spectacularly, known as 'Der Krach'. This event signaled the start of the Long Depression. The crash was caused by the inability to sustain a bubble of false expansion, insolvencies, and manipulations. Financial failures in Vienna spread to most of Europe and North America, triggering a global financial crisis.