Bidspirit auction | German WWI Patriotic Medal ”Im

German WWI Patriotic Medal ”Im Weltkrieg Geboren” by Karl Goetz - A cast medal in what appears to be bronze, showing an infant wearing an oversized Stahlhelm crawling beneath a wreath, encircled by the inscription ”IM WELTKRIEG GEBOREN” (”Born in the World War”). The design on the opposite face depicts a young sapling rooted in ground, flanked by the motto ”WACHSE U. WERDE” (”Grow and Become”) with the monogram ”KG” for the medalist Karl Goetz. Medals of this type were produced during the First World War as commemorative and satirical pieces reflecting on the generation born into wartime Germany, a recurring theme in Goetz's prolific output of medallic art from the period. Karl Goetz was among the most prolific German medallists of the First World War era, producing hundreds of satirical and commemorative pieces that commented on wartime events, political figures, and social conditions, often with biting irony aimed at both German and Allied subjects. This particular medal reflects on the generation born into the conflict, juxtaposing the innocence of infancy with the militarised world it entered, a theme consistent with the reflective and often melancholic strand of Goetz's output alongside his more overtly propagandistic works. Such medals circulated privately among collectors rather than being state-issued, and they serve today as a record of German public sentiment and visual satire during the war years.