The Panic of 1873 helped end Germany’s Gründerzeit expansion after a major speculative boom.
The crisis began in Austria-Hungary with the Vienna Stock Exchange crash on 9 May 1873, known as Black Friday. Financial speculation had surged after the Austro-Prussian War and the creation of the German Empire, while investment in railways, property, and companies expanded rapidly.
The failure of the Vienna investment firm Sattler contributed to the collapse of confidence. Financial stress then spread to Germany and the United States. In America, the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 prompted a banking panic and helped close the New York Stock Exchange temporarily.
The downturn is often called the Long Depression, although historians debate the term because prices fell while some production continued to grow. It was not one isolated event but an international financial crisis followed by years of weak prices, business failures, and unemployment.