102228 | GERMANY & RUSSIA. General Paul von Hindenburg silver Medal.

102228  |  GERMANY & RUSSIA. Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg silver Medal. Issued 1914. The Liberation of East Prussia (33mm, 17.86 g, 12h). By A. Hummel & L. C. Lauer in Nürnberg.

 

GENERALFELDM v BENECKENDORFF u HINDENBURG, uniformed bust facing slightly left / ZUR BEFREIUNG OSTPREUSSENS, nude soldier left, with the facial features of Hindenburg, wielding sword over Russian bear below. Edge: SILBER 990.

 

Zetzmann 4030; Klose 8.17. Choice Mint State. Deeply toned, with some blue and russet hues throughout, and a high degree of glistening brilliance.

 

Before serving as the president of the German Reich and his unintended role in giving rise to Nazism and Adolf Hitler in 1933, Paul von Hindenburg was a celebrated general within the German Empire, first retiring in 1911. Upon the outbreak of WWI, however, he was called upon to serve once again, where he oversaw a major and much celebrated German victory at Tannenberg in 1914. Following this campaign, Hindenburg's star rose to a national level, paving the way for his ensuing political career during the Weimar period.