The Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen (Steiermärkische Sparkasse for short) is an Austrian sparkassen or savings bank based in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

. It is a

universal bank A universal bank participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance.private banking Private banking is banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks and financial institutions primarily serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs)—defined as those with very high levels of income or sizable assets. A bank that ...

clients, large companies, institutional clients and the public sector. It is the largest retail bank in Styria. The expanded home market includes

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Macedonia,

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and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Steiermärkische Sparkasse is the largest regional ''Sparkasse'' in Austria and an important part of the Austrian ''Sparkassen Gruppe'', which consists of 46 ''Sparkassen'' with ''Erste Group Bank'' and ''Erste Bank Österreich'' as leading institutions. It is also a member of the ''Sparkassen Haftungsverbund''.

History

Steiermärkische Sparkasse was founded in 1825 as ''Vereinssparkasse'' (''Steyermärkische Spar-Casse'') and is thus the oldest financial institution in

. Business operations began on 15 May 1825 at the first business premises at Landhaus, Schmiedgasse No. 9. The actual founder of the Steiermärkische Sparkasse was the Emperor's personal representative and Governor in Styria: Franz von Hartig. Since 1823 he had been the Imperial and Royal Count of Styria, Governor of Styria and thus head of the Imperial and Royal Styrian ''Gubernium'', the country's highest political authority. In addition to his political responsibilities, he also was in a role inspired him to found a ''Sparkasse'' in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

. Since 1823 he had been a member of the Association of the First Austrian ''Spar-Casse'' with direct insight into the beginnings of the ''Sparkassen'' system in

. As early as 1824 he had decided to found an institute of this kind in Styria as well.

Timeline

* On 12 February 1825 the subscribers decided to establish a "Steyermärkische Spar-Casse zu Gratz" and its statute and elected its first organs. * On 2 March 1825 the statutes were approved by the ''Gubernium'' for Styria (Zl. 4840) and the members of the permanent committee were elected. * On 5 May 1825, by decree of the United Court Chancellery in

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, permission was granted to operate this first financial institution in Graz. * On 15 May 1825 at 10 o'clock in the morning the opening took place in the rooms of the business premises at the Landhaus. * The first client was the protector of the ''Sparkasse'', Count von Hartig, who paid an amount of 100 fl. C.M. with a dedication. * The first employees of the ''Sparkasse'' were Peter Lingl (cashier) and Ignaz Dissauer (accountant). However, their previous employer Carl Freiherr von Mandell continued to pay their salary. * On 24 March 1838

Archduke John of Austria Archduke John of Austria (german: Erzherzog Johann Baptist Joseph Fabian Sebastian von Österreich; 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverwese ...

visited the ''Sparkasse'' accompanied by the Minister of State Count von Kolowrat. * On 1 April 1885 the Steiermärkische Sparkasse moved into their new premises, built according to plans by Matthias Seidl, in which the (older) ''Stephaniensaal'' was also built and made available to the public. * The Steiermärkische Sparkasse in Graz emerged from "the transfer of the ''Sparkasse des Bezirks Umgebung Graz'' and the ''Gemeinde-Sparkasse in Graz'' to the old Steiermärkische Sparkasse by universal succession in 1939". * From 1965 expansion in Styria -– acquisition of 20 ''Sparkasse'' * In 1991 it was incorporated into a

Joint-stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certificates ...

. * 1992 Merger of Steiermärkische Sparkasse and ''Steiermärkische Bank'' * From 1997 Expansion in the Western

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

* 2000 Takeover of ''Erste Bank'' branches in Styria

Structure

Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG has its headquarters at Am Sparkassenplatz in Graz. 73.5% of the shares in the company are held by "Steiermärkische Verwaltungssparkasse", 25% by "Erste Bank" and 1.5% by the employees. Steiermärkische Sparkasse had a balance sheet total of EUR 15.7 billion, the Steiermärkische Sparkasse Group is the largest ''Sparkasse'' in southern Austria. The ''Sparkasse'' employs 2,785 staff and operates 233 locations. (as of 2018)

Literature

* Wilhelm Kaiserfeld and Heinrich Poschacher, Die Steiermärkische Sparkasse 1825–1925. Eine Denkschrift anlässlich ihres hundertjährigen Bestandes, Graz 1925 * Werner Rauchenwald: Banken in Graz; Leykam-BranchenverlagsgmbH (Hrsg.) 2007

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Banks of Austria Corporate finance Companies based in Graz 1991 establishments in Austria