103710 | GERMANY. Reichskanzler Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg silver Medal.

103710  |  GERMANY. Reichskanzler Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg silver Medal. Issued 1914 on the topic of the wartime chancellor and politician (34mm, 12h). By Friedrich Eue for the Otto Oertel mint in Berlin.

 

v. BETHMANN–HOLLWEG, capped and uniformed bust facing slightly left // Soldier, wearing pickelhaube, advancing left, about to swing rifle; in five lines across field, WER, WIE – WIR, UM DAS / HÖCHSTE – KÄMPFT, / DARF NUR – DARAN / DENKEN – WIE ER SICH / DURCH- – -HAUT. Zetzmann 2052 (R). NGC MS-64. Most attractively toned, with exceptional iridescence and wondrous brilliance spread across both sides. The only example of the type in the NGC census.

 

After ascending rather adeptly within the German government in the last decade-and-a-half of the 19th century, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg would later serve as imperial chancellor from 1909 to 1917. His independence and more conciliatory nature were attributes that Wilhelm II saw in him when giving him the position. At the outset of World War I and into its early years, Bethmann Hollweg enjoyed broad support. However, the later stages of the war caused friction between he and other prominent figures, such as Generals Ludendorff and von Hindenburg, with Bethmann Hollweg ultimately resigning from his role in July 1917.

 

Ex Künker 159 (28 September 2009), lot 3752.

 

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Upload: 1 September 2026.