Catalog
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| Issuer | Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
|---|---|
| Year | 2011 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 15.55 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a detailed architectural view of Wartburg Castle, the UNESCO World Heritage site perched upon a rocky promontory, rendered in finely engraved relief occupying the upper two-thirds of the field. The curved legend UNESCO WELTERBE WARTBURG arcs along the upper periphery. Below the castle, the engraver's initials WR appear to the right, followed by six lines of inscription in the lower field commemorating key historical events and figures associated with the castle: its foundation in 1067 by Ludwig der Springer, the Minnesänger tournament of 1207 under Landgrave Hermann I, the residence of Saint Elisabeth, Martin Luther's sojourn, and the Wartburg Festival of 1817. A small equestrian figure of a mounted knight in full gallop is depicted at the base of the field, symbolising Ludwig der Springer. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Issued to mark the 900th anniversary of Wartburg Castle, this coin belongs to a German gold commemorative program that has quietly become one of the more coherent numismatic series of the post-reunification period. The castle itself sits in Thuringia and carries an almost implausible density of historical significance — Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German there while in hiding from 1521 to 1522, and it later inspired the Burschenschaft student movement that used it as a rally point in 1817.
The .999 finesse and 15.55g weight place it in the half-ounce class, a format the German federal mint adopted for this series rather than the full-ounce standard used by bullion issues.