Who we are
Long before we became a foundation and a strong partner of Non Governmental Organisations, that was only in 2003, we have been a ‘NGO’ by ourselves - if this word would have already existed at that time, because this happened to be in the early 19th century in Vienna.
In 1819, some citizens founded a private association to enable access to common people to make provisions for the future and to provide a secure and independent livelihood for themselves and their families. It was run by engaged volunteers in a poor neighbourhood. It was innovative and obviously sustainable. It was called ‘Erste oestereichische Spar-Casse’, it was the ‘first Austrian savings bank’.
ERSTE Foundation is the main shareholder of
Today, after nearly 190 years of successful development, this former ‘NGO’ has two successors: the operational one is Erste Group. The savings bank that opened in a parsonage in Vienna’s 2nd district turned into an internationally operating retail bank with subsidiaries not only in Austria but also in seven other countries in Central and South Eastern Europe with around 16 Million customers.
The legal successor is us: DIE ERSTE österreichische Spar-Casse Privatstiftung, in short ERSTE Stiftung (ERSTE Foundation). We inherited the private association that was once the hundred per cent owner and founder of the savings bank. In 1997, the bank went public, then growing in Austria and expanding to Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Serbia, Romania, and Ukraine. Now we own a 26.1 per cent stake in the capital of Erste Group. This makes ERSTE Foundation one of the largest institutions of its kind in Europe.
We are not a foundation owned by a bank.
We are a foundation that owns a bank.