Bidspirit auction | Imperial German Medal – 100th

Imperial German Medal – 100th Anniversary of Nassau Infantry Regiment No. 87 - A gilt-toned commemorative medal featuring the conjoined profiles of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Friedrich August, Herzog zu Nassau, with the inscription ”FRIEDRICH AUGUST HERZOG ZU NASSAU” and ”KAISER WILHELM II” encircling the busts, above small crowned coats of arms and the date ”14 MÄRZ 1809.” The reverse depicts the lion monument at La Belle Alliance atop a plinth, surrounded by an oak branch, with the legend ”ZUR ERINNERUNG AN DAS 100 JÄHRIGE REGTS. JUBILÄUM DES 1. NASS. INF. REGTS. NO. 87.” The medal commemorates the centennial jubilee of the 1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment No. 87, tracing its formation to 1809 under Duke Friedrich August of Nassau and honoring its later service history under the German Empire. The La Belle Alliance monument referenced on the piece marks the regiment's association with the Battle of Waterloo (1815), where Nassau troops fought alongside allied forces. This medal marks the 1909 centenary of Infantry Regiment ”Prinz Moritz” (1. Nassauisches) Nr. 87, which traced its lineage to the Duchy of Nassau's army raised under Duke Friedrich August in 1809. By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Nassau contingents fought within the Anglo-Allied army at Waterloo in 1815, an engagement commemorated by the lion monument at La Belle Alliance depicted on the reverse. Following Prussia's annexation of Nassau in 1866, the regiment was absorbed into the Prussian army, and by 1909 it served as part of the Imperial German military, with Kaiser Wilhelm II honoured alongside the historic Nassau duke as a gesture linking the unit's ducal origins to its later imperial service.