Public-Benefit Financing
The ‘Public-Benefit Financing’ project of Corporate Archives examines how the historical corporate purpose of Erste Bank and Sparkassen – serving the public benefit – has been reflected in practice. Building on a preliminary study, a comprehensive foundational research project will investigate how the savings banks have engaged in public-benefit financing from their founding to the present day.
From the Founding Idea to a Modern Focus on the
Common Good
From the outset, the savings bank concept was oriented towards the common good. Its founding statutes stipulated that profits were to be used for charitable purposes. In the 19th century, savings banks made a decisive contribution to the development of municipal infrastructure and acted as a driving force for the transition to a modern society. The crises and catastrophes of the first half of the 20th century severely restricted these activities; it was not until the 1950s that substantial contributions to social development could be made again.
With the legislative changes in 1979, the principle of non-profit status was formally abolished. Nevertheless, savings banks remained oriented towards the common good in practice, a tradition that gained new visibility with the establishment of the Erste Foundation (2003) and other savings bank foundations, as well as with the Zweite Sparkasse. Today, Erste Group increasingly sees itself as a ‘financial health company’ and a corporate citizen, whose identity remains closely linked to the idea of serving the public benefit.
Research Perspective and Social Relevance
The research project aims to systematically analyse this development. Its focus lies on the indexing and digitisation of archive holdings such as anniversary publications, annual reports and the Sparkassen-Zeitung newspaper, as well as the evaluation of external sources (including the Austrian National Bank and other archives). The project is open-ended and combines source-based research with socio-historical classification.
The project thus not only contributes to corporate history, but also to the broader reflection on current issues related to purpose, ESG and the role of Erste Group as a socially responsible actor.