Watch-chain

In 1914 the firm Klein & Quenzer sold this watchchain for women. (Banknotes were not accepted.) If you paid 5 RM in gold you also got a medal. Both chain and medal were designed by Hermann Hoseus (1875-1958). In Germany there was a tradition of exchanging gold for iron jewellery since the Napoleonic wars. The chain is dated 1916. The plaque on the chain bears the inscription “In the age of iron”. The obverse side of the medal has the motto “I gave gold for arms and took iron for honour”.

Wilhelmina von Hallwyl asked Eduard Kahlert (1850-1931), her trusted antique dealer in Germany, to buy two chains and two medals for her when she was on a trip through Germany in October 1916.