Gründerzeit
Encyclopedia
(ˈɡʁʏndɐˌtsaɪt, literally: “the Founder Epoch") refers to the economic phase in 19th century Germany
and Austria
before the great stock market crash of 1873
. At this time in Central Europe
the age of industrialisation was taking place, whose beginnings were found in the 1840s. No precise time for this phase can be given, but in Austria the March Revolution
is generally accepted as the beginning for, in contrast to the political reforms, the economic changes were not reversed. In Germany, as a consequence of the large influx of capital from the victorious Franco-Prussian War
of 1870-1871 and the subsequent German Unification, there followed an economic boom, giving rise to the description of these years as the "founding years".
These years in Central Europe were also the time that citizens increasingly influenced cultural development. Therefore this time is also the epoch of classical liberalism
, even if the political demands of the time were only partially met, and then only in the later period. Industrialisation also posed aesthetic challenges, above all in the fields of architecture and craftsmanship. This was expressed in a development of existing forms, rather than innovation as such. Therefore in common parlance the term is often confused with Historism
, which was the predominant style after 1900, leading to a blurring of the terms. In historical context therefore the later decades are often called , and for this reason, can refer to several periods, for example 1850-1873, 1871–1890, sometimes 1850-1914 or even just the years 1871-1873.
The huge stock market crash of 1873, combined with economic overheating due to enormous French reparations from the war, put an abrupt end to this upswing, referred to in German as the Founding Epoch Crisis (), resulting in a twenty-year phase of economic stagnation. This crisis caused the theory of economic liberalism to lose ground, and it was also this time which saw the introduction of business control mechanisms, as well as protective customs tariffs.
The Vienna stock market crash led to the panic of 1873
in the United States
, resulting in the Long Depression
.
The need for housing rose in consequence of industrialisation. Complete housing developments in the so-called Founding Epoch Architecture style arose in previously green fields, and even today in Central European cities large numbers of buildings from this time can be found together along one single road or even in complete districts. These 4- to 6-story buildings, often constructed by private property developers, often sported richly decorated façades in the form of Historism
such as Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, German Renaissance and Neo-Baroque. The span of construction served not only for magnificent palaces for nouveau-riche citizens, but also the construction of infamous rental ghettos for the expanding urban lower classes.
This phase was important also for the integration of new technologies in architecture and design. A determining factor was the development of new processes in producing steel (Bessemer process
) which made possible the construction of steel façades. A classical example of this new form is found in the steel and glass construction of the Crystal Palace
, completed in 1851, revolutionary for the time and an inspiration for future decades.
In Austria the Gründerzeit began after 1840 with the industrialisation of Vienna, as well as the regions of Bohemia and Moravia.
Liberalism reached its zenith in Austria in 1867 during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and remained dominant until the mid-1870s.
Vienna, the capital and residence of Emperor Franz Joseph, after the failed uprising of 1850, became the fourth largest city in the world with the inclusion of suburbs and an influx of new residents from regions of Austria. In the place where the city wall had once stood, a ring road was built, and construction blossomed. In contrast to agricultural workers and urban labourers, an increasingly wealthy upper-middle class built itself monuments and mansions. This occurred on a smaller scale in cities such as Graz, but on the periphery, thereby preserving the old city from destructive redevelopment.
' mindset, the epoch is intrinsically linked with Kaiser
Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck
, but it did not end with them (in 1888/1890) but continued well into the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was the Golden Age
of Germany, when the disasters of the Thirty Years' War
and the Napoleonic Wars
were remedied, German scientists were developing new technologies faster than anyone else, German industrialists were developing new methods and products that no other nation could compete with, and German merchants were once again taking over market after market around the world. This was the time when particularly the German middle class
rapidly increased their standard of living, buying modern furniture, kitchen fittings and household machines, of a standard not to be outshone for generations.
The social effects of Industrialization were the same as elsewhere: Increased agricultural efficiency and introduction of new agricultural machines led to a polarized distribution of income in the countryside. The landowners won out to the disadvantage of the agrarian unpropertied workforce
. Emigration
, most of all to America, and urbanization
were the unavoidable outcomes.
In the rapidly growing industrial cities, new workers' dwellings were erected, which physicians of the time already denounced as unhealthy: "without light, air and sun", quite contrary to the then prevailing ideas on town planning. The blame for a marked increase in tuberculosis
, spread also to wealthier neighborhoods, came to a great extent to be put on the dark, cramped flats.
However, the working class
too saw improvements of living standard and other conditions, for instance social security
through laws on workers' health insurance
and accident insurance introduced by Bismarck
in 1883/1884, and in the long run also through the foundation of a Social Democracy
that would remain the model for the European sister parties until Hitler's Machtübernahme in 1933. Even today the model of social care developed by Bismarck in 1873 (Reichsversicherungsordnung) remains the contractual basis for health insurance in Germany.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
before the great stock market crash of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
. At this time in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
the age of industrialisation was taking place, whose beginnings were found in the 1840s. No precise time for this phase can be given, but in Austria the March Revolution
March Revolution
The March Revolution may refer to:* The Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas and Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, which began in March of that year...
is generally accepted as the beginning for, in contrast to the political reforms, the economic changes were not reversed. In Germany, as a consequence of the large influx of capital from the victorious Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870-1871 and the subsequent German Unification, there followed an economic boom, giving rise to the description of these years as the "founding years".
These years in Central Europe were also the time that citizens increasingly influenced cultural development. Therefore this time is also the epoch of classical liberalism
Classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....
, even if the political demands of the time were only partially met, and then only in the later period. Industrialisation also posed aesthetic challenges, above all in the fields of architecture and craftsmanship. This was expressed in a development of existing forms, rather than innovation as such. Therefore in common parlance the term is often confused with Historism
Historicism (art)
Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
, which was the predominant style after 1900, leading to a blurring of the terms. In historical context therefore the later decades are often called , and for this reason, can refer to several periods, for example 1850-1873, 1871–1890, sometimes 1850-1914 or even just the years 1871-1873.
Economy
The German term refers to the great economic upswing in the mid-19th century, when the founders of business () could apparently become rich overnight. Of particular importance for speedy economic development was the rise of a developed railway system. Not only was it a major factor in its own right on the business scene of the time, but it also permitted further development through improved communication and migration. Rural migration to the cities assisted the development of a proletariat, with an attendant increase in social problems.The huge stock market crash of 1873, combined with economic overheating due to enormous French reparations from the war, put an abrupt end to this upswing, referred to in German as the Founding Epoch Crisis (), resulting in a twenty-year phase of economic stagnation. This crisis caused the theory of economic liberalism to lose ground, and it was also this time which saw the introduction of business control mechanisms, as well as protective customs tariffs.
The Vienna stock market crash led to the panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, resulting in the Long Depression
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...
.
Design and Architecture
- Main article in German: :de:Historismus
The need for housing rose in consequence of industrialisation. Complete housing developments in the so-called Founding Epoch Architecture style arose in previously green fields, and even today in Central European cities large numbers of buildings from this time can be found together along one single road or even in complete districts. These 4- to 6-story buildings, often constructed by private property developers, often sported richly decorated façades in the form of Historism
Historicism (art)
Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
such as Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, German Renaissance and Neo-Baroque. The span of construction served not only for magnificent palaces for nouveau-riche citizens, but also the construction of infamous rental ghettos for the expanding urban lower classes.
This phase was important also for the integration of new technologies in architecture and design. A determining factor was the development of new processes in producing steel (Bessemer process
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...
) which made possible the construction of steel façades. A classical example of this new form is found in the steel and glass construction of the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
, completed in 1851, revolutionary for the time and an inspiration for future decades.
Gründerzeit in Austria
Liberalism reached its zenith in Austria in 1867 during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and remained dominant until the mid-1870s.
Vienna, the capital and residence of Emperor Franz Joseph, after the failed uprising of 1850, became the fourth largest city in the world with the inclusion of suburbs and an influx of new residents from regions of Austria. In the place where the city wall had once stood, a ring road was built, and construction blossomed. In contrast to agricultural workers and urban labourers, an increasingly wealthy upper-middle class built itself monuments and mansions. This occurred on a smaller scale in cities such as Graz, but on the periphery, thereby preserving the old city from destructive redevelopment.
Gründerzeit in Germany
In the GermansGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
' mindset, the epoch is intrinsically linked with Kaiser
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, but it did not end with them (in 1888/1890) but continued well into the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was the Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
of Germany, when the disasters of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
and the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
were remedied, German scientists were developing new technologies faster than anyone else, German industrialists were developing new methods and products that no other nation could compete with, and German merchants were once again taking over market after market around the world. This was the time when particularly the German middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
rapidly increased their standard of living, buying modern furniture, kitchen fittings and household machines, of a standard not to be outshone for generations.
The social effects of Industrialization were the same as elsewhere: Increased agricultural efficiency and introduction of new agricultural machines led to a polarized distribution of income in the countryside. The landowners won out to the disadvantage of the agrarian unpropertied workforce
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
. Emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
, most of all to America, and urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
were the unavoidable outcomes.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, spread also to wealthier neighborhoods, came to a great extent to be put on the dark, cramped flats.
However, the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
too saw improvements of living standard and other conditions, for instance social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
through laws on workers' health insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
and accident insurance introduced by Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
in 1883/1884, and in the long run also through the foundation of a Social Democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
that would remain the model for the European sister parties until Hitler's Machtübernahme in 1933. Even today the model of social care developed by Bismarck in 1873 (Reichsversicherungsordnung) remains the contractual basis for health insurance in Germany.