102919 | GERMANY & FRANCE. Black Shame/Watch on the Rhine cast bronze Medal.

102919  |  GERMANY & FRANCE. Black Shame/The Watch on the Rhine cast bronze Medal. Dated 1920. "Die schwarze Wacht am Rhein"—on the supposed sexual crimes against German women by Franco-African soldiers (58mm, 65.12 g, 12h). By Karl Goetz in München.

 

DIE WACHT AM RHEIN!!, helmeted head of French-African soldier right, with heavily caricatured features such as the lower lip and stretched earlobe; in four lines to lower left, LIBERTÉ / ÉGALITÉ / FRATERNI / TÉ // DIE SCHWARZE SCHANDE, nude Lorelei (representing vulnerable German women in the Rhineland) with her arms behind her, chained to oversized male genitalia surmounted by helmet (representing supposed sexual crimes committed by Franco-African soldiers); broken lyre to left, with tops terminating in heads of eagles; radiant Eye of Providence above, with rays almost acting as tears. Edge: Some minor filing marks as made, otherwise plain.

 

Kienast 262; Jones, Dance of Death, 52. Mint State Details. Tan-brown surfaces, with a slightly matte nature; a minor spot removal at the top of the soldier's nose is noted for completeness, and accounts for the details designation. An extremely provocative and popular medal.

 

Following Germany's defeat in World War I, French and British troops occupied portions of Germany to ensure that reparations would be paid. In some areas, such as the Rhineland, France utilized colonial troops from North Africa for patrolling and occupying—possibly serving as an act of further humiliation—making the local Germans be subject to those who were, in turn, subject to a colonial power. Within Germany, however, sentiments became overtly racialized, with anti-African propaganda found everywhere in the print media, and with caricatures and stereotypes endlessly employed. This biased and unfounded campaign even found its way into numismatics, with many medals featuring iconography that reveals these feelings. At the forefront was the belief that African troops, racially portrayed as oversexed and primal, were ravaging German women. Though this campaign subsided in the early 1930's, it wasn't the first appearance of this form of racism, and certainly wouldn't be the last. Along with the "Sinking of the Lusitania" medal, this extremely provocative medal stands as one of the more iconic, controversial, popular, and rather infamous (all at the same time) of Goetz's entire oeuvre.

 

Upload: 1 November 2024.