Karl Goetz was a medal maker from Munich, he produced a satirical medal
in response to the German Navy's sinking of the Lusitania.
His satire was aimed directly at Cunard and the German government.
Only a handful were ever made by Goetz,
but the British Government seized on it and Selfridge's, the famous
London department store,
mass produced a copy of his medal with a very anti-German flyer.
The original Goetz medal is bronze-like and has the date as 5th Mai,
(German spelling) whereas the British version was made of a grey
metal and has the correct date of 7th May, (English spelling).
Goetz later produced a bronze-like version bearing the correct date
in German, (7th Mai)
but by then the medal had lost any popularity it once had.
Front and Back of a Goetz Original medal.
Lusitania Online collection.
A copy of the propaganda flyer put out with the British
version of the medal.
The text of the flyer reads;
"This medal has been struck in Germany with the object of keeping alive in
German Hearts the recollection of the glorious achievement of the German
Navy in deliberately destroying an unarmed passenger ship, together with
1,198 non combatant men, women and children.
On the obverse, under the legend "No contraband" (Keine Bannware),
there is a representation of the Lusitania sinking.
The designer has put in guns and aeroplanes, which (as certified by United
States Government officials after inspection) the Lusitania did not carry,
but has conveniently omitted to put in the women and children, which the
world knows she did carry. On the reverse, under the legend "Business
above all" (Geschaft uber alles), the figure of Death sits at the booking office
of the Cunard Line and gives out tickets to passengers, who refuse to attend
to the warning against submarines given by a German.This picture seeks
apparently to propound the theory that if a murderer warns his victim of his
intention,the guilt of the crime will rest with the victim,not with the murderer".
Important note:
Neither Walther Schwieger, nor his crew, at any time
ever received any medal specifically for the sinking
of the Lusitania.
