102416 | GERMANY. General Hans Hartwig von Beseler silver Medal.

102416  |  GERMANY. General Hans Hartwig von Beseler silver Medal. Issued 1914. World War I series: The Capture of Antwerp (34mm, 17.93 g, 12h). By R. Küchler for H. Grünthal in Berlin.

 

v BESELER DER BEZWINGER ANTWERPENS, uniformed bust facing // Nude German soldier, with head left and holding banner and laurel branch, leading charge, with approaching ships and cityscape of Antwerp in background. Edge: SILBER 990.

 

Zetzmann 4035. Choice Mint State. Extremely lustrous and prooflike, with some frosting upon the devices and light toning nearer the peripheries.

 

Having entered the Prussian army in 1868 and participated in the Franco-Prussian War just a few years later, Hans Hartwig von Beseler forged a successful military career for over 40 years before first retiring in 1910. However, the outbreak of World War I saw his unretirement, with him commanding the Third Reserve Corps in the German 1st Amy. After Brussels was taken in late August 1914, Beseler's Third Reserve Corps were left to take Antwerp, with the main German armies left to march toward France. While outside Antwerp, Beseler set up a siege of the city, with it proving successful just over a month later. The following year, Beseler served as the Military Governor of German-occupied Poland—a post in which he served until the end of the war, at which point he fled in disguise. He had been viewed by the Germans as too liberal among the Poles, and by the Poles as too German.

 

Upload: 1 February 2024.