Germany: 2012 €10 Design Contests

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The fourth prize was for a design that has a few extra elements: Agatha Kill used the double portrait but combined it with the titles of several fairy tales in Fraktur font. Also, at the bottom she added a small portrait of Dorothea Viehmann who was an important source for the Grimm collection.

According to the jury, all that makes the image side a bit too full. Large image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/10Euro-Muenze__GrimmsMaerchen/4Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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In October 2012 the series of German €100 gold coins featuring Unesco World Cultural Heritage sites will be continued with a piece dedicated to the cathedral in Aachen. The design contest was won by Erich Ott who, according to the jury, made a very good combination of image side and eagle side.

The published image of the winning design looks, as usual, a little different - colored and with a "proof" style. The XY will be replaced by Ott's initials. A large image is here: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/Unesco__Welterbe__DomzuAachen/1Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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The oldest part of Aachen cathedral is the Carolingian octagon - and Bodo Broschat won the second prize which uses that octagonal shape on both sides of the design. What the jury found problematic was the eagle: Broschat used one that could have appeared on a medieval coin, and while that makes sense (as Aachen was the city where many German kings were crowned), that eagle is a little too different from the eagle of the Federal Republic. Large image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/Unesco__Welterbe__DomzuAachen/2Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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Third prize: Reinhard Eiber, Feucht. He combined a view of the cathedral and a partial floor plan. Basically a convincing solution, according to the jury, but they did not like that the details of the building were reduced to some extent. Also, it seems they were not fond of the eagle ... Large image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/Unesco__Welterbe__DomzuAachen/3Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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And then we have Victor Huster, winner of the fourth prize. The jury said that the building is easily recognizable here, and they also liked the "subtle" octagon (which again refers to the oldest part of the cathedral). At the top, Charlemagne's monogram. What the jury did not like was the way the text was arranged, especially on the eagle side. The Stars of Europe are placed in an interesting way, according to the jury, but the line that connects some of them was against the criteria. Larger image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/Unesco__Welterbe__DomzuAachen/4Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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Next year the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DNB) celebrates its 100th "birthday": The DNB was founded as the Deutsche Bücherei on 3 October 1912; its primary locations are Leipzig and Frankfurt.

In September 2012 a €10 collector coin will be issued on that occasion. The winner of the design contest is Victor Huster, with a design that may not be "easy" but, according to the jury, combines core elements of the DNB: books, letters, notes, binary code ... and, in the center, a human face referring to the user. The jury also liked the fact that, style wise, the image side and the eagle side correspond well.

Have I mentioned in other posts that, once a design has been picked as the winner, it will be depicted a little differently, almost like a proof coin? Right. So you may ask why that was not done in this case. Well, the jury said that a few details have to be modified: The indication of the silver content ("Silber 625", for the proof version) has to be bigger, and the Stars of Europe need to be equilateral.

A larger image of the winning design is here: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/10Euro-Muenze__100Jahre__Deutsche__Nationalbibliothek/1Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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Erika Binz-Blanke won the second prize, with a design that shows an "orbit" with books, CDs and users. The jury found it to be very good but not quite as expressive as the winning design. Larger image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/10Euro-Muenze__100Jahre__Deutsche__Nationalbibliothek/2Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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The third prize was awarded to Doris Waschk-Balz. Again the various media and their users are shown, but according to the jury her design is not "DNB specific" enough. They said the design was harmonic though (image side and eagle side correspond well), and they liked the eagle which in a way reflects the style of the book shelf. Large image: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/10Euro-Muenze__100Jahre__Deutsche__Nationalbibliothek/3Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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And then, the fourth prize: Friedrich Brenner. His design shows a reading hall, seen through the central hole of a CD. The jury found the idea to be interesting enough to win a prize, but did not actually like the size of the "hole" (which has the same size on both sides): On the image side it is a little too big; on the eagle side - where the "hole" and only that area shows the eagle - it is too small.

Usually a coin design contest has four prize winners; this time an additional honorable mention went to Sneschana Russewa-Hoyer's design (not depicted). She combined the two library buildings in Frankfurt and Leipzig.

Large image of Brenner's design: http://www.bbr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_21470/DE/WettbewerbeAusschreibungen/Muenzwettbewerbe/Ablage__AbgeschlWettbewerbe/10Euro-Muenze__100Jahre__Deutsche__Nationalbibliothek/4Preis__Bild,property=poster.jpg

Christian

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I would have gone for the second prize design if the designer had managed to make it less cluttered. It adds a dimension by the quotes, giving a glimpse of the man's brain. He is pessimistic on the human ability to learn. Sample quote: Die Torheiten der Väter sind für die Kinder verloren. (Children learn nothing from the follies of the fathers) and concludes that each generation has to go its own way.

Peter

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Too bad no one thought of adding either a book or some kind of reference to the fairy tales. After all, they are the subject of the coin...

Peter

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A very strong winner. Gave the others no chance at all, while they had some good ideas.

On some of the latest designs, the eagle and the stars give the impression that the eagle has been hit on the head, cartoon fashion. Also, I seem to remember that the requirement for these types of pieces are largely set by the national gov't. I am wondering why there is a German requirement that the stars be equilateral. Can't they be shown half submerged or reflected, for instance? Why constrict the artist?

Peter

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Don't ask me.   In my opinion it is somewhat silly anyway to use the Stars of Europe on euro collector coins - those can be used (if they are used at all) in a small portion of the euro area anyway. On the actual euro coins (circ/commem) they make sense, but here ...

Apart from that, well, I think that, just as the eagle always looks to the left (from the viewer's perspective), the stars may be bigger or smaller, but are to be displayed like on the flag, except that on those collector coins they do not have to be in a circle. Now I don't know what would happen if a coin designer used a different star "look" reflecting some design element from the other side. But so far I have not seen a design where altering the appearance of the stars would be "mandated" by the image side design.

Christian

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Too bad no one thought of adding either a book or some kind of reference to the fairy tales. After all, they are the subject of the coin...

No one? Hmm, Agatha Kill did - and in my opinion, that design should have won. Had this been a coin that commemorates the Xth birthday of one of the brothers, the winner would have been OK (although I like the second prize design better, also because of the eagle). But only Kill's design includes titles of the fairy tales. Well, maybe adding Viehmann at the bottom made the design a little too busy, but in my opinion the other three are almost off-topic.

(Edit) We now know why there is no reference to any fairy tale on that coin: In 2013 the first "Märchen" coin will be issued. And I bet there will be more later ...

Christian

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Well, if the federal government wants to honor that king on a coin once again, they will probably prefer a conventional design as well. And Ott delivered exactly that. The image side of the second prize design is not bad but too cluttered indeed. Also, if you fill up one side that way, the eagle side should not look that sparsely populated.

Christian