The 1873 financial panic that began in Vienna and spread internationally was the Panic of 1873.
The panic followed a period of rapid railway construction, property speculation, and credit expansion in Europe and the United States. On May 9, 1873, the Vienna Stock Exchange suffered a major collapse, an event often called the Gründerkrach. Financial stress then spread through European markets.
In the United States, the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 helped trigger a severe domestic crisis. The New York Stock Exchange temporarily closed for the first time in its history, remaining shut for ten days. Railway failures and falling investment contributed to a long period of economic weakness.
Historians debate the exact boundaries and causes of the resulting downturn, which is often called the Long Depression. It was not simply a stock-market event: deflation, industrial overcapacity, banking problems, and reduced investment affected several countries. The panic is distinct from the Panic of 1893, another major American financial crisis.