Giuseppe della Torre

I was born into one of the noblest local families. After a military career serving the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, I came back to my hometown Gorizia where, willing to do something good for all the people, I founded the pawnshop and Savings Bank, located in this building.

Dear visitor, it was on May 18, 1831 when the pawnshop and the annexed Gorizia Savings Bank opened to the public. With the aim of doing something good for all the people, in summer 1830 I applied to Emperor Francis I of Austria to obtain the approval of the project of refounding a pawnshop and Savings Bank in Gorizia. I emphasized the social purpose of the request, underlining how it would be very useful to people in need of a loan as they would no longer be crushed by usury, how it would be useful for the small economies of the population and how the profits would be a chance to help the sick and needy. The project would be able to respond to all the needs of the local economic community.

Period: 18° century