The Vienna Stock Exchange crash of May 1873 was known as the Gründerkrach.
The German term means roughly “founders’ crash,” referring to the speculative boom in newly established companies in Austria and Germany. Investors had poured money into railways, property, and industrial ventures, often expecting rapid profits.
On 9 May 1873, prices collapsed on the Vienna exchange. The crash spread through financial markets and contributed to the broader Panic of 1873, which affected Europe and the United States. In the United States, the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke and Company helped intensify the crisis later that year.
The Gründerkrach is sometimes treated as synonymous with the entire Panic of 1873, but the terms are not identical. Gründerkrach specifically refers to the Vienna-centered stock-market collapse, while Panic of 1873 describes the wider international financial crisis.