A Scarce Imperial German Landwehr Standard (North Germany).
A very fine double sided framed example approx 122cm x 122cm, the multi coloured silk panels enriched with gold thread embroidery plus various wools and silks, the obverse with central Eagle and laural sprays and the date 1907, scroll above ‘Reserve-und Landwehr-Verein Hohenwestedt u. Umg’. The reverse with large central oak tree emblem with seascape background and the arms of Schleswig-Holstein at base. Dated 1912, legend above ‘Ans Vaterland, ans teure, schliess dich an’, and below, ‘Op ewig ungedeelt’, complete with gold fringe, framed and double-glazed.
Sold for
£611
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Reserve-und Landwehr-Verein Hohenwestedt u. Umg. refers to the Reserve Army of Hohenwestedt and its surroundings. Hohenwestedt is a town in the centre of Schleswig-Holstein 50km from either coast. Ans Vaterland, ans teure, schliess dich an means Unite for your beloved fatherland. This is a quote from the play Wilhlem Tell by Friedrich Schiller. The play is set during the Swiss revolutions against Napoleonic rule and the establishment of the independent Helvetic Republic. Liberty national unity and independence are its major themes. Wilhelm Tells character was a great icon for the many revolutionaries of the 19th century not only in Switzerland but also in Germany, Schillers home. The motto, Op ewig ungedeelt, is a north German dialect meaning Forever undivided. It stems from an anti-Danish poem written in 1841 by August Wilhelm Neuber, a Schleswig-Holstein doctor. The maxim from this poem became very well known and used during Schleswig-Holsteins strive for independence from Denmark and also the unity between Schleswig and Holstein, culminating in the Wars of Schleswig which eventually reunited Schleswig-Holstein with the Prussian dominated North German confederation (1864) before the emergence of the German Empire in 1871. In Schleswig-Holstein the double oak signifies the unity and belonging-together of Schlewsig and Holstein.
Footnote courtesy of Nora Gietz, St Hildas College Oxford.
Category: Arms and Armour
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