Description
This is a lovely solid silver (990 silver!) non portable medal, regarding the military history of “Der Schlacht bei Longwy” (the battle of Longwy). The Battle of Longwy took place on August 22-23 in the year 1914, during which the fort of Longwy was taken by German troops. Longwy became the first French fortress to be taken by the Germans in the First World War. Much of the town was destroyed. According to the 1914 German “September Program”, Longwy was supposed to become annexed to the German Empire because of its rich ore mining regions.
The non portable medal was periodically made into a luxuary silver hanger for a woman. It is fitted in a silver frame and comes with the original necklace it was found with, this enabled the woman to wear it. Because of the high silver content it is in light worn condition. It looks absolutely amazing in hand!
On the front is pictured a sword flanked by the date “1914”. Surrounding the sword and running along the edge is written: “Dem Sieger bei Longwy 22 August. Obviously the sword is symbolic for the german military forces that defeated the French troops.
On the back is written “Wilhelm Kronprinz des Deutschen Reiches”, surrounding a portrait of the son of Emperor Wilhelm II: German Crownprinz Wilhelm.
This is an amazing piece of history and as period jewelry a great artefact that shows very well early WWI wartime German patriotism. It is very rare to find the medallion made into a necklace like this: alterered for actual wearing. This is a very interesting item that was a one time at the start of World War I for sure worn with pride and that would nowadays fit well in any World War I collection.
