K-5 Von Stein, Archbishop of Munich, 1909, Cast bronze, 50.10mm, 55.3g. Gussfrisch

This medal was created to commemorate the death of the Archbishop.

Obverse: Von Stein bust 3/4 right within a wreathed border. Inscription along the inside edge of the wreath reads: Dr FRANZ-JOS-v.STEIN-ERZBISCHOF v.MÜNCHEN

Reverse: Wreathed border with the inscription; ZUM-GEDÄCHTNIS SEINES TODESTAGES (In commemoration of his day of death, in left field 4./MAI/1909) Madonna stands behind putto which is holding the archbishop's hat in his right hand and the pastoral staff in his left. Two shields in foreground, left, with mountain and two stars; right, with crowned bust, left.

Does anyone understand the significance of the symbols on the shields? Goetz uses the same elements on his K-4 medal varieties which all pertain to von Stein too...could these be elements of a family crest?

Hi-Res Image

Hello Goetzdude,

I have just opened a thread in the German "Heraldik Forum".

http://heraldik-wappen.de/viewtopic.php?p=32603#32603

Some time ago they have been very cooperative to solve another question.

I have never received in such a short time the requested answer from a forum.
The left side is the family crest (Stein = Rock), the right side the "Freisinger Mohr" = "Freising African". Von Stein was Cardinal of München-Freising. It was the coat of arms of the bishops of Freising.
These coat of arms have been removed nearly everywhere in Freising in 1802:
http://www.die-tagespost.de/Archiv/titel_anzeige.asp?ID=3301

I would like to give a short summary of the German newspaper comment for those of you , who can't read German.
The "Mohr" (African) appears since 1300 on the coat of arms of the bishops of Freising. The "Mohr" stands for Power, Military Strenght and Independence. Based on the story of the treasurer of the Queen of Ethopia, who was baptised by Apostel Phillipus, the "Mohr" was taken at that time as a positive symbol.

But the coat of arms of the archbishops of Freising are removed in 1802 and the reason was by the grace of Napoleon, that the ruling Wittelsbachers wanted to remove the symbols of the abolished clerical sovereignty from the public.

Nowadays you can still find the coat of arms with blackamoor and Korbinian´s bear in many public places and buildings as it is still the arms of the archbishop of München-Freising and belongs to the logo (as they say) of his administration (Ordinariat).

In the German Numismatikforum, where we discussed the same topic, I was informed, that the coat of arms of Pope Benedikt XVI still keeps the old coat of arms of the bishops of Freising, as he was formerly bishop of Freising.
You will find the "Mohr" in the upper left corner.

Hello Goetzdude,

I have just received a letter from the archive of archbishop-ric of München und Freising. This letter confirms that the coat of arms with the "Mohr" is the one of the archbishop-ric of München und Freising, the other one with the roc (=Stein) the private coat of arms of archbishop Stein.

Thank you research5...it is very helpful to have a trusted friend such as you in Germany! I appreciate your help!

Thank you. Interesting, informative thread (not to mention a great medal!).

"Goetzdude and others" please refrain from posting any further pics of nice tokens/medals so that I can quit considering collecting those also Buying those beautiful medals and tokens is not a good enough excuse for me taking out a second mortgage

Great thread and great medal. The relief and flow on those medals is amazing.