1890 Frauenfeld

Actual 45 mm size by Hughes Bovy, Genf.

Obverse

Helvetia, allegory of our Confederacy, doth don a helmet bedecked with the emblem of the Cross, hiding her mane of hair. Her fine silk gown doth shield her noble frame, whilst her arm outstretched and feet bare doth remain.

With stern visage, she casts a menacing gaze eastward, a warning to her foes. A sight indeed to behold!

A protector, her blade unsheathed, poised for the most crucial of strikes.

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

The maiden gazes upon Helvetia with gratitude and awe. Though exposed above her waist, her vulnerabilities are displayed without fear or shame, her gentle smile conveying peace. Her posture relaxed, her heart at ease, knowing 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 rests upon her labor, the finest agricultural harvests she has to offer, a tribute of gratitude.

Helvetia welcomes Thurgau into the Confederacy, united in eternal unity under her defense and protection.

In the distance, the historical Castle Frauenfeld doth stand as a silent witness to the illustrious chronicles of Thurgau throughout the passage of time, from its humble beginnings as fortified tower mills and a chapel.

Inscriptions

HEIL DIR HELVETIA – Salvation to you Helvetia

Reverse

Upon an intricately wrought shield-of-arms doth stand a maiden in traditional guise, clutching the leash of a steadfast lion, its claws fully extended. The woman, dubbed "Frau" in German, bears the lion adorned with the former coat of arms, a symbol of the Kyburgs. This heralds the Women’s Field, proud emblem of the capital city Frauenfeld of Canton Thurgau.

Atop the encircled branches of the victor's laurels and oaken flora, do lie four crossed sharpshooter carbine-rifles, arms of warfare. A lone shooting eyeglass doth peer from behind the top-right of the shield-crest, a testament to the winner’s precision in 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.