Description
TABLE MEDAL – COMMEMORATING LEIPZIG’S VÖLKERSCHLACHT DENKMAL DEDICATION
This is a table medal that was produced in 1913 to commemorate the dedication of the Völkerschlacht Denkmal, a vast monument commemorating the 1813 Battle of Leipzig (also known as the Battle of the Nations) in which German and allied armies defeated Napoleon’s armies. [With his defeat, Napoleon retreated to Paris. By 1814 the war was over, with Napoleon deposed and sent into exile. He escaped in 1815, and returned to power in France until he was again defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by troops from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Prussia and certain other German States]. The monument was completed in 1913 and dedicated to recognize the 100th anniversary of the first Napoleonic War’s pivotal battle. The monument site also was the scene of some of that war’s bloodiest fighting. Kaiser Wilhelm II, along with every German head of state, attended the monument’s dedication. [I have visited the monument. It is very impressive, with a pyramid-shaped design and beautiful reflecting pond much like the one for the Washington National Monument in Washington, D.C.].
The bronze table medal measures 1½” in diameter. The monument is depicted on the table medal’s obverse, along with information about its dedication. Its reverse sports a Germanic Knight with sword and shield. The medal comes in its original purchase carton, which measures 7/16″ x 1 ¾” x 1 ¾.” The dates 1813 and 1913 appear on the upper lid’s exterior. It was produced for the benefit of the Deutscher Patriotenbund by the Leipzig firm of Heinrich Schneider, a House Jeweler to Saxony’s King.
