Frugal
Back in 1864 Prussia and Austria finally settled the old Schleswig-Holstein issue by defeating Denmark and removing those provinces from Danish control. Two years later Prussia and Austria fought a…
Back in 1864 Prussia and Austria finally settled the old Schleswig-Holstein issue by defeating Denmark and removing those provinces from Danish control. Two years later Prussia and Austria fought a war over the spoils from the Danish war. This war was really a German civil war with the Prussians and their Northern allies facing off against the Austrians and their mostly Southern allies to determine which of them was going to be the dominant power within the German states. As in other civil wars the North won and Austria ceased to be one of the German states. Then in 1870 when France declared war on Prussia all the German states got their act together, defeated France and for the first time put Germany on the map as a unified nation. This was a glorious moment for the Germans both at home and abroad. Twenty-five years later on the silver anniversary of the war there were national celebrations with many German cities and towns joining in and issuing medals to honor their hometown veterans. One such city was Duesseldorf and with true Germanic frugality they issued a medal that covered all the veterans of all three of the wars. The obverse shows the Duesseldorfer crowned lion with his anchor above the city name and dates "1870-1895". The reverse inscription translates as: "(to) our veterans of 1864, 1866 and 1870/71 (from) the greatful father city." Three wars covered by only one medal, and no veterans would have felt that they had been forgotten.
Can anyone report any other similar medals?