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GOETZ: Opus 218 Commemoration of November 9th, 1918
cacheman
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K-218 TO COMMEMORATE THE 9TH OF NOVEMBER 1918 (Weimarer Waschweiber), Cast AE, 88.5mm., Incuse edge-punch “KGoetz”, Choice UNC.
This date marks the abdication of the Kaiser and the renunciation of the throne by the Crown Prince, it also means the birth of the “Weimar Republic.”
Obverse: A young woman represents the new Republic and she hurries to extinguish the fire in the House of Hohenzollern (as the head of the eagle bears a strong resemblance to Wilhelm II). The inscriptions read: “In memory of November 9th, 1918.” In exergue “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
Reverse: The building is the City Theatre of Weimar, the seat of the German National Assembly. At bottom two washer-women gossip while hand washing clothes. The inscription reads: “We washer-women of Weimar are washing for weeks the repugnant laundry of insane, wild, antagonists, but keeping it up in good spirits as if World War’s wild raging was of little importance.” 1919. Interestingly, this inscription is a very complex 8-line composition consisting of 21 words all beginning with the letter “W”.
I am not sure what the significance is of the clawed animal foot located to the left of the left washer-woman. Also, this medal exhibits a unique juxtaposition between Goetz's classical art style, the girl on the obverse, with his satirical and cartoonish characters of the Kaiser and washer-women...perhaps there is more hidden meaning in this medal than first appears with a cursory inspection?
This date marks the abdication of the Kaiser and the renunciation of the throne by the Crown Prince, it also means the birth of the “Weimar Republic.”
Obverse: A young woman represents the new Republic and she hurries to extinguish the fire in the House of Hohenzollern (as the head of the eagle bears a strong resemblance to Wilhelm II). The inscriptions read: “In memory of November 9th, 1918.” In exergue “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
Reverse: The building is the City Theatre of Weimar, the seat of the German National Assembly. At bottom two washer-women gossip while hand washing clothes. The inscription reads: “We washer-women of Weimar are washing for weeks the repugnant laundry of insane, wild, antagonists, but keeping it up in good spirits as if World War’s wild raging was of little importance.” 1919. Interestingly, this inscription is a very complex 8-line composition consisting of 21 words all beginning with the letter “W”.
I am not sure what the significance is of the clawed animal foot located to the left of the left washer-woman. Also, this medal exhibits a unique juxtaposition between Goetz's classical art style, the girl on the obverse, with his satirical and cartoonish characters of the Kaiser and washer-women...perhaps there is more hidden meaning in this medal than first appears with a cursory inspection?
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Comments
Scott - when I first looked at this work, that is exactly what I thought also. This is one interesting piece!
Have you lined up your Goetz pieces in historical sequence to observe the changing styles and opions of Goetz as he aged and lived through some dramatic history?
Shep
09/07/2006
I like this piece! And the literary device (assonance?) of using the same consonent sound in the poetry on the reverse is quite impressive.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
Goetz held the Weimar government in low esteem -- as did the majority of Germans -- as a debating house for socialists, communists and other malcontents. Hence the washerwomen gossiping and washing the (leftist's) clothing dirtied by all the mud-slinging. The severed claw appears like it may be an eagle's claw, possibly holding an orb; if so, it would be a sign of the amputation of the Hohenzollerns' reign.
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!