Gründerzeit

Gründerzeit (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʁʏndɐˌtsaɪt], literally: “founders’ period”) was 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 period can be given, but in Austria the March Revolution of 1848 is generally accepted as the beginning for economic changes, in contrast to political reforms. In Germany, as a consequence of the large influx of capital resulting from French war reparations from the 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 “founders’ years”.

These years in Central Europe were a time that citizens increasingly influenced cultural development. This was 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, through development of existing forms, rather than innovation as such.

In common parlance the term Gründerzeitstil is often mingled with Historicism, which was the predominant architectural style after 1850 until 1914, leading to a blurring of the terms. In historical context different decades are often also called Gründerzeit. For this reason, the term Gründerzeit is used to refer to several periods; for example 1850–1873, 1871–1890, sometimes 1850–1914 for the architecture, or just 1871–1873.

The German term Gründerzeit refers to the great economic upswing in the mid-19th century, when the founders of business (entrepreneurs, Gründer) 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.

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