|
Date: |
|
Description: | letter "Z" (?) (and imperfectly formed numerals)
obverse design : naiad, standing in water up to her thighs, holding her hands above her head which is turned away from the
sight of two naked males wrestling to the right of her. One of the wrestlers carries a spear in his left hand. At base of design a
horizontal skeleton, skull to left, and single skull
reverse text : "ERDE BIRG DEIN MENSCHLICH ANGESICHT SCHAUDERND IN DIE HEIL'GEN GOTTESHAENDE, LOESCH DER SONNE UND DER STERNE LICHT-DENN ES
GLUEHN DES KRIEGES WILDE BRAENDE" (embossed in nine lines on plain background) & "PETZOLD" (indented in smaller characters beneath main
body of text)
German First World War large format medal in iron by Martin Götze, commemorating in an allegoric and unusually oblique
manner, the huge German losses incurred during the prolonged fighting on the Somme in 1916 (24 June - 18 November 1916). The reverse text
(attributed to 'Petzold' - the Austrian-born poet and writer Alfons Petzold, 1882-1923) is translated as 'Earth conceal your human face
shivering in God's holy hands, put out the light of the sun and the stars for the wild fires of war are glowing'. The secondary title for
this medal is translated as 'Horror on the Somme'. The imagery of the piece may relate to the terrible waterlogged conditions associated
especially with the later winter fighting. German casualties for the entire period of the campaign have been estimated to have been in the
region of 650,000. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | Allegory DE.A commemorative Western Front & Somme First World War Battle of the & 24/6/1916 = 18/11/1916 | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Götze, Martin | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|