Medal cast

Two casts, obverse and reverse, of a commemorative medal. Reverse cracked. Obverse: Three busts, right-hand one turned three-quarters left, the Admiral's hands resting on his sons' shoulders. Thin laurel wreath along edge. Above centre 'MAXI-MILIAN'; (right) 'OTTO'; (left) 'HEINRICH.' Exergue: 'GRAFEN VON SPEE.' Palm branch each side. Below this: 'AVF DER "SCHARNHORST" DER VATER ADMIRAL VNTER SEINEM KOMMANDO EIN GESCHWADER' ~ KLEIN AN DER ZAHL ~ DER AELTERE SOHN' AVF DER "GNEISENAV" LEVTNANT OTTO' ALS SOLCHER AVF DER "NVERNBERG" STAND BEIDEN FALKLANDS INSELN AVF HOHER SEE LIEGEN' DEVTSCHE HELDEN LIEGEN DREI GRAFEN SPEE'. (Maximilian, Otto, Henry, Counts von Spee. On board the 'Scharnhorst', the father, Admiral. Under his command a squadron, small in numbers. The elder son serving on board the 'Gneisenau' as Lieutenant. Otto similarly on board the 'Nurnberg'. Off the Falkland Islands, on the high sea, lie German heroes, lie three Counts Spee.) Reverse: An eagle flying over the sea, carrying a laurel branch in his talons. High islands on the distance. Laurel wreath along edge. Above: '8 . DEZEMBER 1914'.

Object Details

ID: SEC1449
Type: Medal cast
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Goetz, Karl; Goetz, Karl
Events: World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914; World War I, 1914-1918
Date made: 8 Dec 1914
People: Spee, Otto von; Spee, Henry von Hubertus, Maximilian Johannes Maria
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Wellcome Collection
Measurements: Overall: 11 mm x 102 mm