Pirmasis pasaulinis karas lietuviškose žemėse ir jo atspindžiai faleristikoje
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Faleristika; Pirmasis pasaulinis karas, 1914-1918 (Didysis karas; World War I); Pirmasis pasaulinis karas, Medalai, Faleristika, Vokietijos kariuomenė, Rusijos kariuomenė; Phaleristics; WWI; World War I; World War I, Medals, Phaleristics, German Army, Russian Army; Worls War I.
EN100th anniversary of the outbreak of the World War I brought the author's attention to the collection of German phaleristics which was in the Department of Numismatics in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum and belonged to the eminent Lithuanian collector Aleksandras Mykolas Račkus. The collection consists of medals and medallions (chips) reflecting the course of the war in Lithuania. There are silver medals minted to celebrate the seizure of the Kaunas Fortress on August 15, 1915; medals to honour the commander of the action general Karl von Litzmann and Otto von Below who occupied Šiauliai and Jeziorosy (Novo Alexandrovsk, Zarasai). There are 11 silver medallions presenting the victorious battles of the German Army in East Prussia (Lithuania Minor) and in Lithuania in Gumbinė, Stalupėnai, Širvinta, Vištytis, Alytus, Kaunas, Šiauliai and in other places. The obverse of the medallions presents the goddess of victory with a sword in her right hand and a wreath for the winner in the left one.The inscription on the reverse of the medallions from the earlier period is the following: "God bless our brave armed forces", later it was changed to "God bless our united armed forces". The reverse of the medallions contains the name of the victorious offensive, location, date, number of captured and other information, including the serial number of the medallion. In total, there are 106 medallions dedicated to the victorious German troops fighting on the Eastern and Western fronts. The medallions were minted in 1915 in Berlin Mint and ordered by Rudolf Kube. They served as ornamental pendant chains of the clocks. Later, after the victorious German expeditions, the medallions probably were not minted. The article presents photographs and descriptions of medallions dedicated to the battles which took place in Lithuania. [From the publication]
