Item number: M229

Year: AD 1901

Material: Bronze

Size: 20.4 x 20.4 mm

Weight: 30.5 g (with box)

Provenance: Künker 2024

This is a bronze commemorative badge issued to mark the Boxer Rebellion. The obverse side features a beaded circle around the edge. At the centre, a German soldier is depicted holding a long sword in one hand and the tricolour German flag in the other, standing triumphantly over a defeated Chinese dragon with its tongue protruding. The lower edge of the medal bears the signature of the engraver, “LAUFR.”

The reverse side of the badge also features a beaded circle around the edge. At the centre is an emblem of the German Imperial Eagle. Surrounding the eagle are inscriptions in Gothic script: “ERSTÜRMUNG D. TAKU FORTS. EINNAHME V. TIENT SIN. MARSCH AUF PEKING,” which translates to “Assault on the Taku Forts, Capture of Tianjin, March on Beijing.”

In AD 1900, a xenophobic movement known as the Boxer Rebellion erupted in rural Shandong and quickly spread across northern China, causing alarm among foreigners stationed in Beijing. On June 20th, the conflict escalated dramatically when German Minister to China, Clemens von Ketteler, was killed. With the approval of Empress Dowager Cixi, the Boxers besieged the Legation Quarter, trapping a German officer and 50 soldiers among the foreigners under siege. News of the minister’s assassination and the besieged legations reached Germany, prompting Kaiser Wilhelm II, a staunch advocate of military expansion, to call for an expeditionary force to avenge the death.

On August 20th, under the nominal command of Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee, 24,000 German troops set out for China. By the time the German forces arrived in September, the Allied forces had already captured Beijing. Nevertheless, the German troops participated in subsequent military operations in northern China and played a role in the negotiations for the Boxer Protocol. As part of these negotiations, Germany demanded that China erect a commemorative archway in Beijing in honour of the slain Minister von Ketteler.

物件編號: M229

年代: 公元 1901 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 20.4 x 20.4 mm

重量: 30.5 g (含盒)

來源: 昆克 2024

這是一枚為紀念八國聯軍之役發行的銅質紀念章，徽章正面有一道珠圈，正中央是一手持長劍，一手持著三色國旗的德軍，腳踩在一條被打敗和吐出舌頭的中國龍身上。獎章下緣能依稀看到雕刻師「LAUFR」簽名。

徽章背面亦有一道珠圈，正中央是一隻象徵德意志帝國的鷹徽，周圍則是以「ERSTÜRMUNG D. TAKU FORTS. EINNAHME V. TIENT SIN. MARSCH AUF PEKING」哥德體德文作為裝飾，意思是猛攻大沽口、佔領天津跟挺進北京。

公元1900年，山東農村掀起一股義和團的仇外運動，該運動旋即席捲華北各地，引發駐紮於北京的外國人不安。6月20日，隨著德國駐華公使克林德遭到殺害，標示著衝突的全面升級。北京城內的義和團在慈禧太后允許下，向受困於使館區的外國人展開圍攻，困守其中的有一名德國軍官和50名士兵。隨著公使遇害和使館被圍的消息傳回德國，崇尚軍事擴張的德皇立即鼓吹要組織遠征軍復仇。8月20日，聯軍的名義總指揮瓦德西元帥帶領2萬4千名德軍從德國開拔，直到9月聯軍早已攻克北京後，德軍方才抵達中國。但德軍仍參與在華北的一系列軍事活動，並在後續跟清廷談判的庚子賠款中，要求中國為遇害的克林德在北京豎立紀念牌坊。