German Local Issue Medals For War Service

[Fred]

After the wars of German Unification most German states issued medals to their troops.  Twenty-five and forty years later, usually on the anniversary of the Battle of Sedan, many local towns gave medals to their veterans of those wars. These were for the veterans only and are not the common patriotic or souvenir medals.  These medals are virtually uncataloged by anyone other than me. Attached is a sample scan. I would like to hear from anyone with related items or questions.

[Figleaf]

As the medals were issued after the events (somewhere in the period 1870-1914, I presume?), can they be attributed to a shorter period by studying events and manifestations? If for example the city of Halle organised a great commemorative march or commissioned a monument to German unification, wouldn't that be a date indication?

Also, are you aware of who produced these medals? The one you show looks professionally struck and the wreath looks official, but there is no indication of the maker.

Peter

[Fred]

Thanks Peter, the medals are almost always dated 1895-96 or 1910.  They are usually produced by private mints with quality ranging from mediocre to superb. The medals almost always are worded using the words Gewidmet (awarded) and Ihren... or Seinen... to distinguish them from the public sale pieces.  Some day I may try and illustrate a few of the medals here if I can reduce the sizes enough to fit here.

[Fred]

For example the medal illustrated here is worded to translate the City of Halle to it's veterans of 1870-71. On the is the date 1895 and "SedanFeier" over church spires

[Figleaf]

That makes sense. 1895 would be 25 years after the battle of Sedan and 1910 would be 40 years after, while 1896 would be 25 years after the treaty of Frankfurt that ended the Franco-Prussian war.

Peter