2  BIS Review 75/2010  independence and a series of bumper harvests fuelled optimism. New banks, railroads and other companies sprouted in Budapest, the period was named the famous “Gründerzeit”, or “founder years”. And in fact, at the Ringstraße in Vienna and in the center of Budapest, you can still see the marvellous buildings that give testimony to the optimism of this period.
However, excessive speculation in Budapest led to a crash in 1869. In 1870, the disappointed members of the Hungarian Parliament were looking for the culprit, and the Austro-Hungarian National Bank (that issued money for both the Austrian and the Hungarian parts of the monarchy) was among the natural candidates.