1890 Frauenfeld

Actual 45 mm size by Hughes Bovy, Genf.

Obverse

Helvetia, allegory of the Confederacy, her helmet adorned with the emblem of the Cross conceals her thick mane of hair.  Her fine silk dress shields her stately form, while her extended arm and unshod feet remain bare.

Sternly she casts a steely, menacing gaze eastwards, a warning to her foes. She is a sight to behold!

A protector, her blade unsheathed, priming for the most quintessential of strikes.

A defender, her forearm outstretched, the bulwark shield in ready defiance, forming a protective sanctuary over a maiden.

The maiden gazes up, with gratitude and awe at Helvetia. She is disrobed bare above her waist, her vulnerabilities evident to all, yet without fear or shame, she conveys a gentle smile. Her posture is relaxed, her heart is at ease, for she knows that she is under the safeguard of the Confederacy.

Her left hand rests upon a proud blazon shield, the coat-of-arms of Thurgau, depicting her origins. Her right arm lays upon her toil, the finest agricultural harvests she has to offer, her tribute of thanks.

Helvetia welcomes Thurgau to the Confederacy, united in perennial unity under her defense and protection.

Over the distance yonder, the historical Castle Frauenfeld from ages past, of humble beginnings from the fortified tower mills and chapel, bear silent witness to the illustrious chronicles of Thurgau across the passage of time.

Inscriptions

HEIL DIR HELVETIA – Salvation to you Helvetia

Reverse

Upon an intricately ornate shield-of-arms is a traditionally dressed maiden holding on to the leash of a resolute lion, its claws fully drawn. The woman (“Frau” in German) has the lion emblazoned with the former coat of arms, symbol of the Kyburgs. This showcases the Women’s Field, proud emblem insignia of the capital city Frauenfeld of Canton Thurgau.

Nestling atop encircled branches of the winner's laurels and oaken flora, lay four sharpshooter carbine-rifles crossed armaments. The lone shooting eyeglass peers from behind the top-right of the shield-crest, depicting the winner’s accuracy of the shot.

Background

The canton of Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland and is named for the river Thur, and the name Thurgovia was historically used for a larger area, including part of this river's basin upstream of the modern canton. The area of what is now Thurgau was acquired as subject territories by the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the mid 15th century. Thurgau was first declared a canton in its own right at the formation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798.

In the 6th century Thurgovia became a Gau of the Frankish Empire as part of Alemannia, passing to the Duchy of Swabia in the early 10th century. At this time, Thurgovia included not just what is now the canton of Thurgau, but also much of the territory of the modern canton of St. Gallen, the Appenzell and the eastern parts of the canton of Zurich. When the Kyburg dynasty became extinct in 1264 the Habsburgs took over that land.

The Old Swiss Confederacy allied with ten freed bailiwicks of the former Toggenburg seized the lands of the Thurgau from the Habsburgs in 1460, and it became a subject territory of seven Swiss cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug and Glarus).

During the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, both the Catholic and emerging Reformed parties sought to swing the subject territories, such as the Thurgau, to their side. In 1524, in an incident that resonated across Switzerland, local peasants occupied the cloister of Ittingen in the Thurgau, driving out the monks, destroying documents, and devastating the wine cellar.

Between 1526 and 1531, most of the Thurgau's population adopted the new Reformed faith spreading from Zurich; Zurich's defeat in the War of Kappel (1531) ended Reformed predominance. Instead, the First Peace of Kappel protected both Catholic and Reformed worship, though the provisions of the treaty generally favored the Catholics, who also made up a majority among the seven ruling cantons. Religious tensions over the Thurgau were an important background to the First War of Villmergen (1656), during which Zurich briefly occupied the Thurgau.

In 1798 the land became a canton for the first time as part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, as part of the Act of Mediation, the canton of Thurgau became a member of the Swiss confederation.

In memory of the joining of the Canton Thurgau as a full member into the Swiss Confederation in the year 1803, as part of the Act of Mediation.