GERMANY. Köln (Stadt). Satirical Medal 1900 (Copper, 36 mm, 19.17 g, 12 h), on the Visit of Paul Krüger to the city on 1-6 December. By Lauer, Nürnberg. BEISPIELLOSE VOLKSHULDIGUNG DEM PRÄSIDENTEN KRÜGER VON TRANSVAAL✱ // HEILIGER ERNST - KEIN CARNEVAL! / KÖLN DEN 1.-6. - DECEMBER 1900 Crowned and nimbate double eagle with coat of arms on breast, holding sword and scepter. Rev. HEIL / DEM GAUNER / LIHUNGTSCHANG-, / FORT MIT KRÜGER, / DEM FEINDE DER RÄUBER! / "FREIHEIT DIE ICH MEINE" / WIR DEUTSCHE / FÜRCHTEN GOTT UND / ENGLAND! in nine lines, below Chamberlain at the gallows; CHAM- BERLAIN. Weiler 3212. Minor scratches and small deposits, otherwise, extremely fine.


This satirical political medal was issued during the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and reflects the strong anti-British mood that had taken hold in parts of the German Empire at the turn of the century. The obverse honors Paul Kruger, president of the Boer Republic of Transvaal, who was widely admired in Germany as the embodiment of resistance to British imperialism. On the reverse, Kruger is contrasted with the Chinese statesman Li Hongzhang (‘Lihungtschang’), who is derisively described as a ‘crook’ and portrayed as a figure willing to accommodate the great powers, especially in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion.

The slogan WIR DEUTSCHE / FÜRCHTEN GOTT UND / ENGLAND! (‘We Germans fear God and England!’ in German) deliberately twists Kaiser Wilhelm II’s famous statement, ‘We Germans fear God, and nothing else in the world’. What makes the medal particularly unusual is the way it weaves together several major international tensions of the era - the Boer War in South Africa, the Boxer crisis in China, and the increasingly hostile relationship between Germany and Britain - into a single piece of political commentary. The result is a remarkably sharp and multilayered example of nationalist propaganda from the Wilhelmine period.