!!!Dorotheum

Dorotheum, "Auktions-, Versatz- und Bank-Gesellschaft 
m. b. H" auction house, association under commercial law, 
sole associate is the Republic of Austria; chief activities: auctions, 
commercial transactions, cheap loans on pawns, safekeeping of 
valuables; runs its own bank. Its experts are available for valuations 
of works of art and valuables.

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In 1707 the so-called "Versatz- und Frag-Ambt" was established in 
Vienna to provide cheap loans for pawned valuables, its main objective 
was to counteract usury. In 1785 the institution was opened to 
everybody, in 1787 it was moved to its present location in 
Dorotheergasse (derived its name from a former convent of the Order of 
St. Dorothea; new building 1901). From the end of the 19%%sup th/%  
century the auctioneering side of the business became increasingly 
important. In the 1920s branches were set up in the provinces. In 1923 
the Dorotheum became an enterprise in its own right; currently 
regulated by the Dorotheum Act of 1979. Today the Dorotheum has more 
than 21 locations in Vienna and in the provinces. Subsidiary in Prague 
since 1992.


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