The Man

In addition to being one of the leading satirists of his time, as well as one of the finest artists, Karl Goetz was a man of canny business sense.  His enterprising spirit and businessman's attitude permeates the many writings he contributed to sales catalogs at various periods of his career.  To interest prospective customers, and also for a sales approach to his clients, Goetz used a direct letter campaign. Here in this letter Goetz offers K-478, a medal commemorating Hindenburgs 85th birthday. The letter also contained offers for more of the Hindenburg themed medals K-471, K-441, K-416, and K-457.
It seems that Goetz was well ahead of the advertising methods of his time. He sent "New Year's greetings" to his friends and patrons such as the K-481  seen here.  Inaddition to greeting cards, Goetz tastefully executed 'Thank you' cards in appreciation of job orders. He also solicited new orders and courted goodwill through other cards that he had fashioned.
An item of interest occurs in the New Year Greeting of 1934. As a closing salutation Goetz uses the term, Mit deutschen gruß (with German salute). This phrase was adopted by those who wanted to refrain from using the customary "Heil Hitler," which, of course, was much preferred by the Nazis. One sees this as a subtle hint of how Goetz felt about the regime. On the other hand, the front page of a catalog annotation signed by Herrn Fickert, one of the dealers selling Goetz medals during the Third Reich, shows the use of the " Heil Hitler" phrase.
 

Karl Goetz, as a commercial artist in competition with other artists, submitted his patterns for coins to the mints in Berlin and Munich. A striking example is opus 77, of which the 5 Mark piece pattern with the head of King Ludwig of Bavaria is shown here.
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An interesting theory has been developed by Nick Parker of London, England.' He claims that opus 386 "Hindenburg Jubilee 1927," and opus388, "Dürer" (a four hundred year commemorative of his death), 1928,and opus 398, the Venezuela patterns, have certain points in common.Mr. Parker states that the above three pieces are generally accepted ascoins. And since the gold Venezuelan 36 mm diameter pattern is con-sidered a 100 Bolivar piece, Parker concluded that the Hindenburg 36 mmgold, and the Darer 36 mm gold pieces should similarly be considered 100 Mark pieces.
 

This reasoning does not seem to be based on sound principles. At no time did the German currency include a 100 Mark piece, nor was one intended to be issued to the public. The last German gold minted was in1915, and it was called ,Reichsgoldmünzen'. No mention of gold patterns for the Hindenburg and the Dürer designs is made in Jaeger, Die Deutschen Reicltsmiinzen seit 1871. Kurt Jaeger, on page 195, of the 5th edition of his book, makes the point, that, "In many foreign catalogs there are descriptions attributed to medals such as 3 Mark piece-size. They only use this labeling to obtain higher prices." (Significantly, one of the New York auctions shows, in the November, 1966 catalogs, such pieces as "large 100 Mark size"). Goetz made the Hindenburg and Dürer medals from gold in the 36 mm size as a true commemorative issue, not as coin patterns. The 36 mm gold Venezuela pattern, contained in the set K-398, may well be considered a 100 Bolivar piece, but that does not entitle us to connect these patterns and the German commemorative medals. A coin is a piece of metal stamped by the authority of a government, as a guarantee of its value. It is used as money. These gold pieces were not stamped by authority of the German government, and they could not be used as money.
 

A talented side of Karl Goetz, mostly unknown to collectors, is theartist who made such varied articles as silver neck chains for the champion shot of a shooting festival, an impressive grave monument for the family of the Volckamers (opus 118, size 40" x 64"); a medal for Dr. Havlicek, the researcher of blood circulation (K-620); or such a piece as K-603, which delineates Herrn and Frau Herig on the obverse, and on the reverse the documentation of their lifework, research in the use of tool handles. 

 

Few also know the Goetz who engaged in the manufacture of firm plates for businesses, of which one is shown in the margin, representing the numismatic company of Otto Helbing Nachfolger in Munich. The company today is known as the "Münchner Münzhandlung Karl Kress." The plaque is given the number 430, and the year 1929. Dr. Max Bernhart's book Die Munchner Medaillenkunst der Gegenwart , has a picture of this plaque, plate 21. Since the book was published in 1917, there is a question as to why the plaque was incorporated into the opus as number 430 in the year 1929. One must assume that Goetz assembledhis opus list much later, at a time when many of his medals were alreadycast, and that he had individual records for each one of them but nocontinuous, all-comprising, opus. When he found that the Helbing plaquewas not listed in its proper sequence (1917 or prior), he put it into thenext available slot, namely 1929. What makes it so confusing to theresearcher is that he assigned the year 1929 to it. This casual method ofclassifying medals would also explain the nonchronological order ofothers of his works. One must be tolerant with the artist. He was moreconcerned with his creations than with a foolproof bookkeeping system.
 

As might be expected with a Katalog of this size, Goetz often resorted to "muling," that is, the use of a particular obverse with a different reverse design than that used in the first casting, or vice versa. One case in point is opus 33, "Fritz Reuter," where Goetz re-used the obverse for K-319.  Again, the obverse of K-225 "The Hour ofReckoning', of 1919, was utilized in 1929 for K-426. In another case,K-305, "Bank's Pleasure, Bank's Worry," with the year 1924, was re-used with a change in the year to 1936. However, there was no special listing in the Katalog for this one. Still another example of "muling" involved K-69, when re-used with minor changes in K-505, after a span of 25 years. It should make an interesting study for some collector to assemble the various instances of 'muling" contained in Goetz 's lifework.
 

To conclude the assessment of Karl Goetz as a creator and as an interpreter of the tumultuous days of German political struggle, one cannot help but admire this man's industriousness, imagination, and courage. The creation of 800+ medals over a period of more than forty years speaks for Karl Goetz's qualities as an artist and artisan. His literal recording of the political scene reveals him as a patriot.