The Vienna Stock Exchange crash known as the Gründerkrach occurred in 1873.
The crash began in Vienna on May 9, 1873, after a period of rapid economic expansion and speculative investment in companies, railways, and real estate. Many newly founded enterprises attracted capital through optimistic promises, especially during the boom that followed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.
When confidence broke, share prices plunged and numerous banks and companies failed. The panic spread beyond Austria-Hungary, helping mark the beginning of the Long Depression, a period of weak prices and slow growth that affected much of Europe and North America. The United States experienced its own major panic later in 1873.
“Gründerkrach” means roughly “founders’ crash” or “promoters’ crash,” referring to the speculative founding of companies. It is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1873 in the United States, but the Vienna crash was an important early phase of the wider international financial downturn.