Johann Blum

The Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar was an army commander and avowed enemy of the Habsburgs, initially serving Gustav Adolf of Sweden and later the French crown from 1634. For Emperor Ferdinand II, the loss of Breisach to the Duke was nothing short of a disaster, as, through him, the French king now had the strongest fortress on the Rhine and with it control of the most important Rhine crossing in the southwest of the Empire. The reverses of the medals depict the same view of Breisach from the west over the Rhine bearing the inscription: »Breisach is strong, but God and the Weimarana are stronger. 1638.« The obverses of the medals display two different portraits of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. At least one of the two medals may have been minted in memory of the Duke, who died in 1639 in Neuchatel.