Author Topic: A free, new Austria  (Read 6434 times)

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  • Oskar Thiede.  (1918?).  EIN FREIES  ——  NEUES REICH (a free new realm).  Single-sided cast iron, blackened, 71.2 mm, 126.06 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Rare.

    On a ground line in front of flaming ruins, slender, naked man, en face, legs apart, both hands swinging immense flag displaying heraldic arms of Austrian provinces; title legend center left, center right, separated by flag; artist's signature O・THIEDE in exergue; raised rim.

    Cf: Die Medaille der Ostmark.  1938.  Wiener Bund für Medaillenkunst, p. 40, no. 62; pl. 70.  Listed as premium (bonus) medal of the Medaillenvereinigung der Genossenschaft der bildenden Künstler, Wien (Medal Consortium of the Co-operative of Visual Artists, Vienna).

    Commemorates the establishment of a republic in Austria (the mostly German-speaking provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) following the military collapse and breakup of the Empire in October 1918.  The newly-established state initially sought union with Germany, but this intention was denied by the Allied Powers, and the Treaties of St Germain and Versailles (1919) expressly forbade such a union.  Following this failure, the name of the country was changed to the Republik Österreich.  Presumably this medal celebrates the hoped-for Deutsch-Österreichische Republik rather than the separate state enforced by the peace treaties.
A free, new Austria
« on: February 04, 2020, 04:31:52 PM »

Oskar Thiede.  (1918?).  EIN FREIES  ——  NEUES REICH (a free new realm).  Single-sided cast iron, blackened, 71.2 mm, 126.06 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Rare.

On a ground line in front of flaming ruins, slender, naked man, en face, legs apart, both hands swinging immense flag displaying heraldic arms of Austrian provinces; title legend center left, center right, separated by flag; artist's signature O・THIEDE in exergue; raised rim.

Cf: Die Medaille der Ostmark.  1938.  Wiener Bund für Medaillenkunst, p. 40, no. 62; pl. 70.  Listed as premium (bonus) medal of the Medaillenvereinigung der Genossenschaft der bildenden Künstler, Wien (Medal Consortium of the Co-operative of Visual Artists, Vienna).

Commemorates the establishment of a republic in Austria (the mostly German-speaking provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) following the military collapse and breakup of the Empire in October 1918.  The newly-established state initially sought union with Germany, but this intention was denied by the Allied Powers, and the Treaties of St Germain and Versailles (1919) expressly forbade such a union.  Following this failure, the name of the country was changed to the Republik Österreich.  Presumably this medal celebrates the hoped-for Deutsch-Österreichische Republik rather than the separate state enforced by the peace treaties.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2020, 10:01:07 PM by Haarmann »