102970 | GERMANY & FRANCE. Satirical bronze Medal.

102970  |  GERMANY & FRANCE. Satirical bronze Medal. Issued circa 1925. On the French occupation of the Ruhr valley (50mm, 51.64 g, 12h).

 

'RUHRKRANK' (dysentery), man (with the features of French president Raymond Poincaré and emblematic of the French occupiers) dressed in nightgown, standing left, profusely sweating, and holding hands to his stomach in great discomfort; to left, chamber pot with roll of toilet paper in the form of 1000 Franc notes; other torn notes scattered upon the floor // In five lines, WER / ANDER'N / EINE GRUBE GRABT, / FÄLLT SELBST / HINEIN (He who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself, adapted from various similar passages in the Bible). Edge: Plain.

 

Choice Mint State. Light brassy-brown surfaces. Very rare and amusing, especially given the play on words involving the Ruhr.

 

Emanating from a series of medals that take issue with the French occupation of parts of Germany in the years following World War I, this particular medal appears to point to the idea that France would soon be on the receiving end of the acts alleged to be occurring under her watch. The reverse legend succinctly conveys this, and the events from less than two decades later would prove it true. On the obverse, this satire is taken a step further through a play on words, showing France sick with dysentery. Rurhkrank in German is dysentery, sharing the same word as for the Ruhr Valley or region—one of the main areas of France's occupation efforts.

 

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Upload: 15 November 2024.