all Rights Reserved ©
March 2022 Auction Day 1
Lot 88:
Propaganda copy of Karl Goetz’s ‘Lusitania Medallion’
This object is one of 300,000 copies of Karl Goetz’s ‘Lusitania Medallion’ cast and distributed in England as part of an anti-German propaganda campaign following the sinking of the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania by a German submarine in May 1915.
At approximately 2.10 p.m. on Friday 7 May 1915 the RMS Lusitania (30,396 tons), with 1,951 passengers and crew on board, was off the south coast of Ireland on a return voyage from New York to Liverpool when she was hit amidships by a torpedo fired by the German submarine, U20. The ship sank within 20 minutes. 1,201 men, women and children perished, not 1,198 as initially thought, including 128 US citizens.
The sinking of the unarmed Lusitania was greeted in Britain with shock, anger and indignation, inspiring an abundance of anti-German propaganda and provoking a powerful emotional commitment in the US to the Allied cause, although it was still another two years before the US entered the war. Anti-German feeling was further exacerbated when a little-known Munich medallist called Karl Goetz privately cast and issued the original ‘Lusitania Medallion’. In doing so, he erroneously recorded 5 May 1915 on the obverse of the medallion as the date of the sinking.British intelligence was quick to exploit the date error as evidence that the fate of the Lusitania had involved advanced planning and that it was pre-meditated and pre-arranged. British intelligence was also happy to mislead public opinion further about the status of Goetz’s medallion stating that its introduction had been sanctioned as an official commemoration of the sinking which implied national approval for it.
British replicas of the ‘Lusitania Medallion’, such as the one , were sold in an attractive cardboard presentation box for a shilling each, the proceeds being donated to St Dunstan’s Blinded Soldiers and Sailors Hostels and the Red Cross. The inside of the lid of the box bore 16 lines of anti-German propagandist text including the statement that the medallion was ‘proof positive that such crimes (as the sinking of the Lusitania) are not merely regarded favourably, but are given every encouragement in the land of Kultur’.
The Medallion
The obverse:
depicts the stricken Lusitania sinking, her stern submerged, while her bow, supposedly laden with armaments, rises clear of the water. This depiction is contrary to eye-witness accounts which stated that the ship went down bow first. The text around the upper edge, ‘Keine Bann Ware!’, translates as ‘No Contraband Goods!’. The text at the bottom of the obverse translates as ‘The liner Lusitania sunk by a German submarine 5 May 1915’.
The reverse
A skeleton (representing death) sells passage at the Cunard Line ticket office. Along the top of the medal are the German words for “Business Above All” mocking the Cunard Line for willingly placing passenger’s lives at stake. At left is a man reading a paper on which are the German words for “U-Boat danger”, while behind him is the figure of the German ambassador, Count Johann-Heinrich von Bernstorff, raising a wagging finger as a reminder that the Germans had placed a warning advertisement in the same newspaper as the Cunard Lines sailing schedule.
The story of the sinking of Lusitania
In February, 1915, the German government announced an unrestricted warfare campaign. This meant that any ship taking goods to Allied countries was in danger of being attacked. This broke international agreements that stated commanders who suspected that a non-military vessel was carrying war materials, had to stop and search it, rather than do anything that would endanger the lives of the occupants.
The Lusitania, was at 32,000 tons, the largest passenger vessel on transatlantic service, left New York harbour for Liverpool on 1st May, 1915. It was 750 ft long, weighed 32,500 tons and was capable of 26 knots. On this journey the ship carried 1,257 passengers and 650 crew.
There was some concern on board as a few days previously the German Embassy had published a statement that warned: “Travelers intending to embark for an Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that in accordance with the formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies are liable to destruction in those waters; and that travellers sailing in the war zone in ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.”
At 1.20pm on 7th May 1915, the U-20, only ten miles from the coast of Ireland, surfaced to recharge her batteries. Soon afterwards Captain Schwieger, the commander of the German U-Boat, observed the Lusitania in the distance. Schwieger gave the order to advance on the liner. The U20 had been at sea for seven days and had already sunk two liners and only had two torpedoes left. He fired the first one from a distance of 700 metres. Watching through his periscope it soon became clear that the Lusitania was going down and so he decided against using his second torpedo.
After a second, larger explosion, the Lusitania rolled over and sank in eighteen minutes. A total of 1,198 people died (785 passengers and 413 crew). Those killed included 128 US citizens.
The sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915 had a profound impact on public opinion. The German government apologized for the incident, but claimed its U-boat only fired one torpedo and the second explosion was a result of a secret cargo of heavy munitions on the ship. If this was true, Britain was guilty of breaking the rules of warfare by using a civilian ship to carry ammunition. British authorities rejected this charge and claimed that the second explosion was caused by coal dust igniting in the ship’s almost empty bunkers.
At 1.20pm on 7th May 1915, the U-20, only ten miles from the coast of Ireland, surfaced to recharge her batteries. Soon afterwards Captain Schwieger, the commander of the German U-Boat, observed the Lusitania in the distance. Schwieger gave the order to advance on the liner. The U20 had been at sea for seven days and had already sunk two liners and only had two torpedoes left. He fired the first one from a distance of 700 metres. Watching through his periscope it soon became clear that the Lusitania was going down and so he decided against using his second torpedo.
After a second, larger explosion, the Lusitania rolled over and sank in eighteen minutes. A total of 1,198 people died (785 passengers and 413 crew). Those killed included 128 US citizens.
The sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915 had a profound impact on public opinion. The German government apologized for the incident, but claimed its U-boat only fired one torpedo and the second explosion was a result of a secret cargo of heavy munitions on the ship. If this was true, Britain was guilty of breaking the rules of warfare by using a civilian ship to carry ammunition. British authorities rejected this charge and claimed that the second explosion was caused by coal dust igniting in the ship’s almost empty bunkers.
Material / type of production: cast in iron.
Height: 55,00 mm
Width: 55,27 mm
Weight: 74,22 g
VERY IMPORTANT !!!
Shiping from our office in Europe.
Share this lot:
all Rights Reserved ©