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Description: | obverse design: shield, bearing the arms of the city of Vienna and date "1914", behind which stand two female figures.
One, on the left facing left, holds a basket filled with bread and offers bread to a veiled woman who sits facing her. The veiled woman
holds a baby on her lap. The second standing female, facing right, wears a small crown and supports a large sword, hilt uppermost and blade
obscured by shield, with her right arm and holds a small wreath in her right hand. She rests her left hand on the right shoulder of a
wounded Austrian soldier who sits facing her. Above the two standing figures the shining sun above a bank of clouds, the sun's rays filling
the remainder of the upper portions of the design
reverse design: wreath, made from bound laurel leaves, enclosing four lines of text in Gothic script. Above the straight upper edge of the
wreath the dates "1914-1915"
reverse text: "Die Wiener.Herzen.schlagen für.die. Bedürftigen,.Sorgen.für die.Verwaisten.u.lindern d.Los.d.Invaliden" & "HERAUSGEGEB.v
SCHWARZ GELBEN KREUZ u.d.INVALIDEN" (in very small faintly indented characters at lower inner edge of wreath)
exergue: "WIEN WÄHREND DES WELTKRIEGES"
First World War Austrian medal by the Art Nouveau artist, sculptor and medallist Gustave Gurschner (1873-1970). The
medal, designed to raise funds for victims of war, acknowledges the sacrifices of Austrian servicemen, the suffering experienced by those
they left behind and the efforts of the city of Vienna to assist the wounded and bereaved, as evidenced by the medals dealer Schulman's
title for the work: 'The City of Vienna's Benevolence during the European War'. The reverse text is translated as 'The Viennese heart beats
for the poor - take care of the orphans and ease the lot of the disabled' and 'Issued by the Black-Yellow Cross and Fund for Disabled
Soldiers'. The exergue text is translated as 'Vienna during the World War'. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | Austro-Hungarian Home Front & Aid for War Victims Viennese & 1914 = 1915 wounded / disabled children Charities commemorative First World War | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Gurschner, Gustave | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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