Adolf Petschek

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abraham Adolf Petschek, Halevi (born May 21, 1834 in Kolin , † May 29, 1905 in Vienna ) was an Austro-Hungarian stockbroker and banker whose insolvency in 1873 triggered the Vienna stock market crash .

family

Abraham Petschek, called Adolf, was the eighth child of Israel Petschek, Halevi (1789–1852) and Alina Petschek, b. Raudnitz (~ 1795-1865). He had nine siblings: Jakob (1817–1822), Salomon (1819, infant death after 6 weeks), Joseph (1820–1835), Moses (1822–1888), Samuel (1825–1890), Amalia (1828–1835), Lucia, called Leny (1831–1905), Anna (1836–1917) and Emanuel (1839, infant death after 5 months). The gender name Halevi indicates descendants from the tribe of the Levites and is hereditary in the male line.

The family lived in poor conditions. His father made a living as a peddler . Presumably, Adolf Petschek did three years of military service after the age of 17 and immediately afterwards moved to Vienna , where he married Julie Kohn (~ 1838–1885), who was born in Vienna . The marriage resulted in seven children, all of whom were born in Vienna:

  • Isidore (1859-1916); died in New York, where he worked as a lawyer (not to be confused with cousin of the same name )
  • Charlotte (1858-?); married the art dealer Samuel Kende
  • Armin (1861-1920); died in Vienna, where he worked as a district doctor
  • Johann (1862–?)
  • Max (1862-1934); died in New York, where he worked as a jeweler
  • Sigmund (1863–?)
  • Kamilla (1877-1922)

Adolf Petschek is considered to be the founder of the Viennese line of the Petschek entrepreneurial dynasty .

Act

In 1864, at the age of 29, Adolf Petschek was approved as a freelance stockbroker on the Vienna Stock Exchange . In addition, four years later he obtained a “permit to operate the money changer trade ”. The headquarters of the Wiener Petscheks were located at Praterstrasse 25 in the Leopoldstadt district . Adolf Petschek had his brokerage office for industrial and securities at Strauchgasse 3, at that time exactly opposite the Vienna Stock Exchange. Within a short time he made a fortune of 3 million guilders . Adjusted for inflation, this sum corresponded to purchasing power of around 40.2 million euros in 2010 .

His commission house was considered solid, which later turned out to be incorrect. To recruit new clients, Petschek placed multi-column advertisements in many newspapers across Germany. These included the Neue Wiener Tagblatt , the Neue Militärzeitung , the Wiener Sportblatt , the Centralblatt for the interests of horse breeding and sport , the Troppauer Zeitung , the Laibacher Zeitung , and the Bohemia almost daily . As he pretended, his clients included the crème de la crème of Viennese society - counts, princes, right up to the Duke of Modena . His customer file is said to have read like the Hofgotha .

Such media presence gave the impression of high solvency . It could easily have been determined that the more often he advertised, the better his ratings were. For example, the messenger for Tyrol and Vorarlberg , where Petschek also regularly placed advertisements, wrote on April 8, 1871, immediately on page 1 of the advertising section: “Our dear readers, we put our dear readers on today's ad from Mr. Adolf Petschek, banking and stock exchange business in Vienna , especially attentive and can only add that the Petschek company has enjoyed the best reputation since its several years of existence. "

In February 1873, Adolf Petschek founded the Österreichische Allgemeine Maklerbank as a stock corporation. The economic optimism of the time and the prospect of quick profits mingled into a fateful start-up fever. This also applied to financial services. While there were only eleven joint stock banks, including the National Bank , in the Austrian half of the empire in 1867 , the number rose to 141 by May 1873. The so-called broker banks were mostly speculative and swindle banks, which Eduard März described as "the very own children of the new founding period ".

To finance construction projects, the broker banks recklessly issued Pfandbriefe, which often only served as collateral with half-finished houses and later only planned houses. They also put shares into circulation, of which only partial amounts, if any, were secured. The subsequent payments due later should simply be paid out of price gains. Adolf Petschek was considered the king of brokerage. His bank issued 16,000 such shares. In addition, he had issued cash certificates worth 8 million guilders, which according to his statements were offset by reported equity capital of 2 million guilders.

In the morning hours of May 9, 1873, the speculative bubble burst. Adolf Petschek had to file for bankruptcy and thus gave the signal for a general collapse. That broke the dam. The bankruptcy of his company forced the temporary suspension of trading and triggered the Vienna stock market crash . That same morning, 120 more bank insolvencies followed. Within a few weeks, the securities prices plummeted. The crisis spread to France and the USA and reached Germany in the autumn. The Great Depression that followed lasted until 1896.

The event that triggered the global economic crisis was initially referred to as the "Petschek Affair" in newspapers of the time. Only later did the term “Viennese stock market crash” catch on. To this day, reports on the crash have indicated that Adolf Petschek's bank and commission house was considered very solid. The Viennese trade press , where Petschek consistently advertised large advertisements , made a significant contribution to this legend . One day after the bankruptcy, the newspaper published the following on the front page:

“The bankruptcy of the Petschek stock exchange became known on yesterday's stock exchange. Since this stock exchange account played an outstanding role among the other similar institutes, this circumstance was probably the first reason to suspend stock exchange business on yesterday's preliminary stock exchange. The house called taught at many banks and houses, which are effects in the depot , had a Circulär to the effect that it was forced to the required subsidies from the respective principals to obtain. We also mention that the above-mentioned stock exchange office enjoyed a special reputation and credits in the business world, both because of the financial situation of the owner and because of the important position that individual clients of this stock exchange office have in the business world. "

This representation was almost literally adopted by various domestic and foreign newspapers. A short time later, however, it turned out that mostly "little people" had entrusted their savings to him. The Vienna Chamber of Commerce set up a commission and, after completing the examination, filed a criminal complaint against Adolf Petschek in December 1873. His bank did not have the equity of 2 million guilders reported by him. The commission was only able to determine a cash balance of 42,000 guilders, which was also no longer there, since Petschek stated that he had settled open trade accounts with it after the bankruptcy was opened.

In addition, the auditors determined that there was no securities account at all at the bank and that no bookkeeping had taken place at all . According to the report of the commission, Petschek duped creditors by, among other things, selling securities in real estate in Hungary that did not exist. It was literally referred to as the " plight of big business". The investigators were convinced that Adolf Petschek still had a high level of private wealth, which could not be proven at the time. In fact, after the collapse, he had bought a significant number of effects and expensive valuables, including carpets for several thousand guilders.

Finally, it came to the offense of tax evasion, whereupon he filed a voluntary report in order not to be punished. The proceedings had to be discontinued in April 1874, because at that time there was no fundamental legal basis for securities trading. It was not until April 4, 1875, in Austria-Hungary, that the “Stock Exchange Act concerning Brokers and Sensals” and the “Ministerial Ordinance for the Stock Exchanges in Vienna, Trieste and Prague” of April 19, 1875 created a legal norm. In the period that followed, Adolf Petschek was no longer involved in the stock exchange business and lived as a privateer . His sons Isidor and Max emigrated to North America. His brother Moses Petschek , who had also acquired shares through him, told his sons that "in business life you can't even trust your own brother".

In 1875, Adolf Petschek acquired a 6200 m² property in Matzleinsdorf . In addition, he owned a town house at Börsegasse 12 since 1872 , which he lived as the owner until his death. On March 30, 1885, his wife, Julie Petschek, died of diabetes at the age of 47 . Shortly afterwards he entered into a second marriage and married Sabine Blume from Jaroslau ( Galicia ). Adolf Petschek died at the age of 72 after a long illness. His grave is in the Vienna Central Cemetery .

Web links

Commons : Familie Petschek  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cesta od lichvářů po uhlobarony skončila pro Petschky za oceánem Mladá fronta Dnes of February 6, 2018, accessed on May 24, 2020.
  2. ↑ Further information and research by Mark Petschek about Moses Petschek, Halevi at www.geni.com.
  3. ^ Klaus Grünwaldt: Levi. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4. Bautz, Herzberg 1992, Sp. 1565-1572.
  4. ↑ Petschek, Julius Deutsche Biographie , accessed on June 24, 2020.
  5. ↑ Further information and research by Mark Petschek about Abraham Petschek, Halevi at www.geni.com.
  6. ↑ Petr Štěrba: Rodina Petschků: Čeští Rothschildové? (1. část). Univerzity Karlovy, November 15, 2017. finmag from June 9, 2008, accessed on June 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Wiener Kaufmannschaft (Ed.): Board of Directors of the Wiener Kaufmannschaft. Sommer, May 13, 1868, p. 20.
  8. ↑ Emanuel Pernold: Commercial Register. Containing in alphabetical order all commercial, factory and commercial companies recorded by the high kk commercial courts in Vienna with details of their domiciles. Leopold Sommer, 1865, p. 166.
  9. ^ Friedrich von Geitler: New military newspaper. Volume 23. Vienna, 1870, p. 247.
  10. ^ Official and advertising paper for the city of Rotenburg od T: Fränkischer Anzeiger: Daily newspaper of the city of Rothenburg and the surrounding area. Volume 7. Schneider, May 15, 1873, p. 2.
  11. ↑ The purchasing power parity of the guilder and the krone to the euro municipality of Ober Sankt Veit , accessed on June 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Moritz Szeps: New Wiener Tagblatt. Example daily editions March 1871. Ostmärkischer Zeitungsverlags-Gesellschaft, 1871.
  13. ^ Friedrich von Geitler (ed.): New military newspaper. Volume 23. Vienna, 1870.
  14. ^ Francis Cavaliero, Carl Leidesdorf (ed.): Sportblatt. Centralblatt for the interests of horse breeding and sport. Official organ of the Austrian Jockey Club. 1st year 1870. Koehler, 1870.
  15. ^ Adolph Trassler (ed.): Troppauer Zeitung. Issues July to August 1868. Troppau, 1868.
  16. ↑ Ignaz von Kleinmayr (Ed.): Troppauer Zeitung. Issues July to September 1868. Kleinmayr, 1868.
  17. ↑ Gottlieb Haase (Ed.): Bohemia. Issues July to September 1868. Haase, 1868.
  18. ^ Susanne Kalss, Christina Burger, Georg Eckert: The development of Austrian company law. Linde, 2003, p. 131 (footnote).
  19. ^ Erwin Christian Lessner: The Danube. The Dramatic History of the Great River and the People Touched by Its Flow. Doubleday, 1961, p. 466.
  20. ^ Office Tyrol (ed.): Messenger for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Born in 1871. Wagner, 1871.
  21. ^ Wilhelm Jacobi (ed.): Wiener Börsen-Courier. Verlag W. Jacobi, February 3, 1873, p. 2.
  22. ↑ Peter Eigner, Helmut Falschlehner, Andreas Resch: History of Austrian private banks. Springer-Verlag, 2017, p. 66.
  23. ↑ Heinz Duthel: Do not discuss with Zombies II. BoD Norderstedt, 2020, pp. 204–205.
  24. ^ Erwin Christian Lessner: The Danube. The Dramatic History of the Great River and the People Touched by Its Flow. Doubleday, 1961, p. 466.
  25. ↑ JBE Förtsch (Ed.): External. in: Würzburger Abendblatt. Volume 33rd edition of May 12, 1873. Steib, 1873, p. 3.
  26. ^ Kilian Rieder: A Historic (al) Run on Repo? Causes of Bank Distress during the Austro-Hungarian "Gründerkrach" of 1873. Dissertation. University of Oxford, 2016, pp. 55-56.
  27. ^ Siegfried Pressburger: The Austrian Music Institute. 1816-1966. Austrian National Bank Vienna, 1966, p. 1131.
  28. ^ The privileged Austrian National Bank. “The bank files” of 1862 and the “Great Crash” of 1873. Oesterreichische Nationalbank, accessed on June 22, 2020.
  29. ^ Claudio Franzetti: Investment banks. Business areas, actors and mechanisms. Springer-Verlag, 2018, p. 20 f.
  30. ^ Moritz Szeps (ed.): On the Petschek affair. in: Morgen-Post , December 4, 1873, p. 5 and Neues Wiener Tagblatt , December 6, 1873, p. 6.
  31. ↑ Historical financial crises: Austria-Hungary 1873 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 6, 2008, accessed on June 23, 2020.
  32. ^ The insolvency of the stock exchange company Petschek. in: Wiener Handelpresse of May 10, 1873, p. 1.
  33. ↑ Vienna Stock Exchange Reports . in: Allgemeine Zeitung of May 11, 1873, Cotta'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung , 1873, p. 441.
  34. ↑ Nathan Beck (ed.): Revelations about Petschek. in: Neues Wiener Blatt dated December 6, 1873. Leopold Sommer, 1873, p. 5.
  35. ^ Moritz Szeps (Ed.): Insolvenz Petschek. in: Morgen-Post , December 6, 1873, p. 5.
  36. ^ Revelations about Petschek In: Neues Wiener Blatt dated December 6, 1873, p. 5.
  37. ^ Moritz Szeps (Ed.): Insolvenz Petschek. in: Morgen-Post , December 6, 1873, p. 5.
  38. ↑ Submitted . in: Fremd-Blatt dated December 11, 1873, Elbemühl, 1873, p. 7.
  39. ↑ Petschek self-disclosure . in: Neue Freie Presse of April 21, 1874, p. 7.
  40. ^ GJ Manz (ed.): The stock exchange law of l. April 1875. Verlag der GJ Manz'schen Buchhandlung, 1875, p. 2 f.
  41. ↑ Karel Kratochvil: Bankéři. Praha Nakladatelelství politické literatury, 1962, pp. 140 f.
  42. ^ Joseph Schlessinger (ed. And publisher): Der Cataster. Vienna, 1875, p. 155.
  43. ^ Joseph Schlessinger (ed. And publisher): Der Cataster. Vienna, 1875, p. 4.
  44. ↑ Friedrich Manz (Ed.): Wiener Kommunal-Kalender. Vienna 1877, p. 282.
  45. ↑ Further information and research by Mark Petschek about Abraham Petschek, Halevi at www.geni.com.
  46. ^ Grave site Adolf Petschek Grave-pictures., Accessed on June 23, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Petschek, Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Petschek, Abraham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Hungarian stockbroker and banker
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolin
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1905
Place of death Vienna