Richard Klein 1915
OTTO VON — WEDDIGEN. Cast iron, blackened, 31.22 mm, 11.56g. Vorzüglich (extremely fine). Rare in iron (see below).
Obverse: Three-quarter full face portrait to left in commander's cap and dress collar; title legend left and right edges, respectively.
Reverse: Across center field a sturgeon to left amongst coral branches at left and right; two-line inscription center above fish U / 29; center below fish ✠ (Iron Cross); legend KRIEG — 1915 lower edge, left and right; artist's initials R - K lower center.
Cf: Bernhart, Max. 1915. Kriegsmedaillen bayerischer Künstler, pl. III, no. 25 (obverse illustrated).
Cf: Bernhart, Max. 1917. Die Münchener Medaillenkunst der Gegenwart, pl. 31, nos. 188, 188a.
Cf: Schulman. 1917. La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXVII, p. 67: 653 (silver and iron examples).
Cf: Bekker, Gerd. 2001. Europäische Plaketten und Medaillen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts: Bestandskatalog der Sammlung des Grassimuseums Leipzig / Museum für Kunsthandwerk, p. 166: no. 838 (iron).
Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A. 2016. Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg, p 194: 12:27 (silver).One of three small-format medals by Richard Klein of early-war heroes (also Hindenburg and Mackensen) issued in cast silver, bronze, and iron, the latter now apparently the scarcest due to likelihood of corrosion.
Kapitänleutnant Otto Eduard Weddigen (1882 - 1915), commander of U-9, gained fame for his interception and sinking of three British warships, HMS
Aboukir, HMS
Hogue, and HMS
Cressy, within less than a hour on 22 September 1914. He lost his life 18 March 1915, along with all crewmen aboard the U-29, when the U-boat was rammed by HMS
Dreadnought. Although not of noble ancestry, this and several other medals inserted the "von" prefix to his family name (Klose, p. 194).
