Because every true Viennese has a Bohemian grandmother…
…today we'll take a look at the history of our neighbors.
Our new object of the week vividly documents the pride and joy in the hard-won self-determination and the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic. After the end of the First World War and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the declaration of independence in 1918 marked the beginning of the new state.
Czechoslovakia
Silver medal 1928, by Otakar Španiel, for the 10th anniversary of the Republic.
Obverse: 1918-1928, coat of arms, above it Saint Wenceslaus before an army. Signature: O. SPANIEL, hallmarks: K (Mint Kremnitz) and fineness mark 987.
Rv.: ISEM – RAZEN – Z CESKEHO – KOVU, Saint Procopius with the devil harnessed to a plow, behind him a miner.
Jaeger/Pick p. 17. Müseler 69/4.
Geographically, Czechoslovakia encompassed the territory of present-day Czechia and Slovakia, as well as part of Ukraine. The inscription "ISEM RAZEN Z CESKEHO KOVU" explains that these commemorative medals were minted from Czech metal. They depict the two patron saints of Bohemia. Above the coat of arms appears Saint Wenceslaus with his legendary sleeping knights of Mount Blaník, who serve as a national symbol and protectors of the young republic. Saint Procopius was the first Bohemian to be canonized in Rome.
According to legend, the founder of the Benedictine monastery in Sázava created the so-called Devil's Furrow by harnessing the devil to a plow and driving him along. Particularly in Slavic regions, Saint Procopius is also venerated as the patron saint of coinage and miners – for example, we see a miner behind him, emerging from a shaft with his pit lamp. Well-known mining areas were located in the Ore Mountains and near Kutná Hora.
Because Czechoslovakia had rich raw material deposits, the young state was one of the strongest industrial states in Europe during the interwar period.
Incidentally, the author of these lines does not have a Bohemian Babička himself, but a Moravian great-grandmother, whose family name would nevertheless fit wonderfully with the famous "Telephone Book Polka"!
