1978 Switzerland "Lucerne 50th Shooting Festival Wilhelm Tell - The Appleshot" Hans Erni Silver Medal.
1978 Switzerland "Lucerne 50th Shooting Festival Wilhelm Tell - The Appleshot" Hans Erni Silver Medal.

1978 Switzerland "Lucerne 50th Shooting Festival Wilhelm Tell - The Appleshot" Hans Erni Silver Medal.

$45.00

1978 Switzerland 50th Swiss Shooting Festival Luzern Legendary Folk Hero Wilhelm Tell Apple-Shot Hans Erni Silver Medal. Exceptionally elevated surface reliefs, original lustrous Bu/UNC Condition. Artistically designed with striking eye-appeal. Limited Mint.

Country:     Switzerland
Year:           1978
Subject:      50th Shooting Festival Luzern
                    Legendary Folk Hero Wilhelm Tell and the Apple-Shot
Material:     Silver, Ag (0.900)
Size:           34 mm
Weight:      20 grams
Artist:         Hans Erni

- Designs: -
At Obverse: Wilhelm Tell, with crossbow and barefooted in stealth crouching, preparing for the assassination of Gessler.
At Reverse: The famous "Apple-Shot" by Wilhelm's bolt across from his son's head ordered by Gessler.

- The Legend of Wilhelm Tell: -
Albrecht Gessler was the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf, Switzerland. He raised a pole under the village lindentree, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before it.

Tell visited Altdorf with his young son. He passed by the hat, but publicly refused to bow to it, and was consequently arrested. Gessler was intrigued by Tell's famed marksmanship, but resentful of his defiance, so he devised a cruel punishment. Tell and his son were both to be executed; however, he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son Walter in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow. Gessler then noticed that Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver, so he asked why. Tell was reluctant to answer, but Gessler promised that he would not kill him; he replied that, had he killed his son, he would have killed Gessler with the second bolt. Gessler was furious and ordered Tell to be bound, saying that he had promised to spare his life, but would imprison him for the remainder of his life.

Tschudi's continues that Tell was being carried in Gessler's boat to the dungeon in the castle at Küssnacht when a storm broke on Lake Lucerne, and the guards were afraid that their boat would sink. They begged Gessler to remove Tell's shackles so that he could take the helm and save them. Gessler gave in, but Tell steered the boat to a rocky place and leaped out. The site is known in the "White Book" as the "Tellsplatte" ("Tell's slab"); it has been marked by a memorial chapel since the 16th century. Tell ran cross-country to Küssnacht with Gessler in pursuit. Tell assassinated him using the second crossbow bolt, along a stretch of the road cut through the rock between Immensee and Küssnacht, which is known as the Hohle Gasse. Tell's act sparked a rebellion, which led to the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

- About the Engraver: Hans Erni: -
Hans Erni (February 21, 1909 – March 21, 2015) was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor. Born in Lucerne, the third of eight siblings, to a cabin cruiser engineer, he studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris and later in Berlin, and admired artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

He is known for having illustrated postage stamps, his lithographs for the Swiss Red Cross, his participation on the Olympic Committee as well as his activism. His 1939 works and first major public success was a mural titled Switzerland: "Vacation Land of the People" was commissioned and displayed for the national exhibition in Zürich.

The Hans Erni Museum, situated in the grounds of the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, contains a large collection of artwork, he also designed ceramics and theatre costumes and sets. He did the art for Swiss bank notes, in the 1940s but, after the notes were already printed they were never published, because a member of the State Council of Lucerne criticized that Erni was deemed as a communist. However, Erni was never a member of any political party. In 2004, he was awarded the honorary citizenship of the city of Lucerne. On 10 January 2009 he received the SwissAward for lifetime accomplishment.

In his career, he realized about 300 posters and several murals — including for the 1980 Salon international de l'automobile, Red Cross, IOC, United Nations and ICAO. He illustrated about 200 books and created 90 Postage stamps and 25 medals.

                                  
       . ~AU'Listings~ .                         .~Au'Medals~.   


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