Joseph of the Tower

I was born into one of the most prominent families of the local nobility. After a military career serving the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, I returned to my small homeland of Gorizia and, with the desire to work for the good of all, I founded the Monte di Pietà and the Cassa di Risparmio, both headquartered in this palace.

 

Dear visitor, it was May 18, 1831 when the Monte di Pietà and the annexed Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia opened to the public.

With the desire to act for the good of all, in the summer of 1830 I had submitted a request to Emperor Francis I of Austria to obtain approval for the project to refound a Monte di Pietà and Cassa di Risparmio in Gorizia.

I emphasized the social purpose of the request, reiterating how it would prove extremely useful to those in need of a loan, who would no longer be burdened by heavy usury, how it would boost the population's small savings, and how the profits would enable assistance to the sick and those most in need. The project would, in essence, meet all the needs of the local economic community.