Goetz, Karl (1875-1950). Sinking of the Passenger Ship Lusitania, 1915.

The best known work by Karl Goetz (1875-1950) is this satirical art medal, which depicts the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania by German submarines on May 7, 1915. Goetz mistakenly coined May 5, 1915 as the date of the torpedo.

When a specimen was discovered by the British Foreign Office and an illustration published in the New York Times this caused a sensation, the British government decided to use the medal for counter-propaganda. The British government argued that the early date (5 May) was proof that it was a planned attack against a civilian ship, in which nearly 1,200 people died.

Large size. Engraved year 1915 by Karl Goetz (1875-1950), signed "K . G". Iron 55 mm. Weight 79 gram. Excellent condition!

RMS LUSITANIA
RMS Lusitania was the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of the Mauretania three months later. She was sunk on her 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing, on 7 May 1915, by a German U-boat 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,199 passengers and crew.

During construction gun mounts for deck cannons were installed but no guns were ever fitted. Both the Lusitania and Mauretania were fitted with turbine engines that enabled them to maintain a service speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). They were equipped with lifts, wireless telegraph, and electric light, and provided 50 percent more passenger space than any other ship; the first-class decks were known for their sumptuous furnishings.

On the afternoon of 7 May, a German U-boat torpedoed Lusitania 11 miles (18 km) off the southern coast of Ireland inside the declared war zone. A second internal explosion caused her to sink in 18 minutes, killing 1,199 passengers and crew.? The German government justified treating Lusitania as a naval vessel because she was carrying 173 tons of war munitions and ammunition, making her a legitimate military target, and they argued that British merchant ships had violated the cruiser rules from the very beginning of the war. The Germans argued that Lusitania was regularly transporting "war munitions"; she operated under the control of the Admiralty; she could be converted into an armed auxiliary cruiser to join the war; her identity had been disguised; and she flew no flags. They claimed that she was a non-neutral vessel in a declared war zone, with orders to evade capture and ram challenging submarines.

However, the ship was not armed for battle and was carrying hundreds of civilian passengers, and the British government accused the Germans of breaching the cruiser rules. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States because 128 American citizens were among the dead. The sinking shifted public opinion in the United States against Germany and was one of the factors in the declaration of war nearly two years later.

KARL GORTZ (1875-1950)
Karl Xaver Goetz (28 June 1875 - 8 September 1950) was a German medalist.

Karl Goetz was born in Augsburg and began an apprenticeship with the engraver Johannes Dominal at the age of 13. His journeyman's pieces were awarded by the city of Augsburg in 1892. As a journeyman, Goetz studied and worked on the Walz in Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin and Düsseldorf until 1897. After two years in Utrecht, he lived in Paris for five years before moving to Munich in 1904, where he lived until his death in 1950. Goetz was a member of the Munich Artists' Cooperative and the Numismatic Association. On April 27, 1912, Goetz married Margarete Stangl. They had three children, Guido, Brunhilde and Gertrud.

In the 40 years of his work, Goetz produced a total of 633 medals, some of which were distributed in large editions.

Early works
He often created his early pre-war works in Paris in the style of French Art Nouveau, especially portraits of people from the bourgeoisie, such as doctors, industrialists or ecclesiastical figures. These medals are considered to be his most artistically valuable, but are less well known today than his later propaganda works.

The "satirical medals"
During the First World War, Goetz increasingly turned to war propaganda. From 1913 to 1923, he created a series of 82 medals, now known as the "satirical medals," which includes his best-known works. These medals are attributed to Expressionism and always served to make a pointed dissemination of a political statement. The spectrum ranges from obvious glorification of German achievements to exaggeration to ridicule. Some of his medals are clearly racist. For example, his coin The Black Shame (1920) depicts a woman tied to a helmeted phallus; on the other side, the caricatured exaggerated head of an African soldier is depicted. The propaganda was directed against the African units of the French army deployed in the occupation of the Rhineland.

Goetz's best-known work is the Lusitania Medal, which depicts the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania by German submarines on May 7, 1915. Goetz mistakenly coined May 5, 1915 as the date of the torpedo. Originally, the minting was a purely private initiative of Goetz, which only came into being in 1916 and initially comprised only a few hundred pieces. However, when a specimen was discovered by the British Foreign Office and an illustration published in the New York Times caused a sensation, the British government decided to use the medal for counter-propaganda. The early date was intended to portray the sinking of the civilian ship, in which nearly 1,200 people died, as a planned attack.

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