Comments and suggestions to lusitaniadotnet@gmail.com
Karl Goetz was a medal maker from Munich, he produced a satirical medal in response to the German Navy's sinking of the Lusitania.
His satire was aimed directly at Cunard and the German government.
Only a handful were ever made by Goetz, but the British Government seized on it and Selfridge's, the famous London department
store,mass produced a copy of his medal with a very anti-German flyer.
The original Goetz medal is bronze-like and has the date as 5th Mai, (German spelling) whereas the British version was made of a
grey metal and has the correct date of 7th May, (English spelling).
Goetz later produced a bronze-like version bearing the correct date in German, (7th Mai) but by then the medal had lost any popularity
it once had.
Important note:
Neither Walther Schwieger, nor his crew, at any time ever received any medal specifically for the sinking of the Lusitania.
Front and Back of a Goetz Original medal.
Lusitania Online collection.
A copy of the propaganda flyer put out with the British
version of the medal.
The text of the flyer reads;
"This medal has been struck in Germany with the object of keeping
alive in German Hearts the recollection of the glorious achievement
of the German Navy in deliberately destroying an unarmed passenger
ship, together with 1,198 non combatant men, women and children.
On the obverse, under the legend "No contraband" (Keine Bannware),
there is a representation of the Lusitania sinking. The designer has put
in guns and aeroplanes, which (as certified by United States
Government officials after inspection) the Lusitania did not carry,but
has conveniently omitted to put in the women and children, which the
world knows she did carry. On the reverse, under the legend "Business
above all" (Geschaft uber alles), the figure of Death sits at the booking
office of the Cunard Line and gives out tickets to passengers, who
refuse to attend to the warning against submarines given by a German.
This picture seeks apparently to propound the theory that if a
murderer warns his victim of his intention,the guilt of the crime will rest
with the
victim,not with the murderer".
Another quite different bronze Lusitania medallion.
This one was produced by Arthur George Walker
(1861-1939). He is well known for his statue of
Florence Nightingale at Waterloo Place, London,
among many others. There is a good provenance
for this item as it comes from the estate of another
well-known Royal Academician.
This medallion may be of great interest to people
concerned with the history of the Lusitania, as it
may possibly reveal a concern by an artist of
significant standing artist to combat what he might
have seen as the cynicism of the Goertz
medallion. Further research would be interesting,
though there seem to be few if any archival
sources of information about Walker.
Steve Musgrave/Lusitania Online
Comments and suggestions to lusitaniadotnet@gmail.com
Karl Goetz was a medal maker from Munich, he produced a
satirical medal in response to the German Navy's sinking of the
Lusitania.His satire was aimed directly at Cunard and the German
government.
Only a handful were ever made by Goetz, but the British
Government seized on it and Selfridge's, the famous London
department store,mass produced a copy of his medal with a very
anti-German flyer.
The original Goetz medal is bronze-like and has the date as
5th Mai, (German spelling) whereas the British version was made
of a grey metal and has the correct date of 7th May,
(English spelling).
Goetz later produced a bronze-like version bearing the correct date
in German, (7th Mai) but by then the medal had lost any popularity
it once had.
Important note:
Neither Walther Schwieger, nor his crew, at any time ever received
any medal specifically for the sinking of the Lusitania.
Front and Back of a Goetz Original medal.
Lusitania Online collection.
A copy of the propaganda flyer put out with the British version
of the medal.
The text of the flyer reads;
"This medal has been struck in Germany with the object of keeping
alive in German Hearts the recollection of the glorious achievement
of the German Navy in deliberately destroying an unarmed
passenger ship, together with 1,198 non combatant men, women
and children.
On the obverse, under the legend "No contraband"
(Keine Bannware), there is a representation of the Lusitania
sinking. The designer has put in guns and aeroplanes, which
(as certified by United States Government officials after inspection)
the Lusitania did not carry,but has conveniently omitted to put in
the women and children, which the world knows she did carry. On
the reverse, under the legend "Business above all" (Geschaft
uber alles), the figure of Death sits at the booking office of the
Cunard Line and gives out tickets to passengers, who refuse to
attend to the warning against submarines given by a German.This
picture seeks apparently to propound the theory that if a murderer
warns his victim of his intention,the guilt of the crime will rest with
the victim,not with the murderer".
Steve Musgrave/Lusitania Online
Another quite different bronze Lusitania medallion. This one was
produced by Arthur George Walker (1861-1939). He is well known
for his statue of Florence Nightingale at Waterloo Place, London,
among many others. There is a good provenance for this item as it
comes from the estate of another well-known Royal Academician.
This medallion may be of great interest to people concerned with
the history of the Lusitania, as it may possibly reveal a concern by
an artist of significant standing artist to combat what he might have
seen as the cynicism of the Goertz medallion.Further research
would be interesting, though there seem to be few if any archival
sources of information about Walker.
