Owner Comments:
“Ehre Dem Ehre Geburt - Honor to Whom Honor is Due” - this phrase echoed incessantly through the mind of King Ludwig, not giving him a moment’s peace. Who was it that had said it? Romans 13:7, Apostle Paul… With a deep breath, Ludwig tried to regain some concentration. He was listening to the presentation of the new Minister of the Interior, Count Louis of Oettingen-Wallerstein regarding the sorting of duties within the Parliament as well as throughout all of Bavaria. The new Minister proved to be quite aggressive - in a short period of time, he had already established a reputation as a radical mind, not tolerating any sort of liberalism. This was in stark contrast to the former Minister, the old and prudent Johann Baptist von Sturmer. “Honor to Whom Honor is Due”, or to rephrase “Each gets what he deserves”… “Hah! My Father Max surely outdid himself with his acclaimed Constitution. Not only that, he founded the Parliament or Landtag in 1819 - it was originally intended to serve as a coexistence of two Houses, the upper and the lower. The Upper House consisted of members of the aristocracy and royal families, together with government officials and higher-status landowners. The Lower House - that was truly the source of troubles and weeds of dissent, for it included the representatives of small landowners, peasants, townspeople, and uneducated folk.” Ludwig exhaled and kept listening to the speaker. “Let us remember what had occurred on the first of March 1831! Your Majesty surely remembers that disgraceful Landtag! Hours upon hours spent and still the Parliament could not reach any sort of agreement! Eduard von Schenk and his cabinet created an utter chaos that day, and instead of building a new foundation of Law and Prosperity they build an opposition, closer to anarchy! Thanks to the honorable Johann Baptist von Sturmer the liberals infiltrated all of the houses of Landtag! The laughable "freedom of speech" ended up as a freedom for dirty accusations and criticisms of the government! For yellow newspapers, for liars! They even dared to cut the funding for our noble military, our strength! Even the royal budget of Your Majesty was touched with their filthy hands - and what about the poor contractors who already completed their work and never received any payment? Our Upper House is growing so tired of vetoing all of the wretched initiatives from the Lower House, and eventually the entire lawmaking procedure will be reduced to chaos. Look at what happened to Poland in December - they suffered an uprising! The Polish Sejm was forced to collapse and stop its functioning. This is unacceptable, I vow to end the disgusting fight for power that comes at the expense of our beloved Bavaria! My Landtag 1834 will be a truly different story, where everything and everybody is in agreement. The projects of our law will be both viable and sustainable - no more liberals! No more opposition! Enough is enough!” …”Ehre Dem Ehre Gebuhrt” - thought Ludwig, “doesn’t sound like a bad motto for a new Taler, for the united Landtag!” He sighed with relief. Enough politics and bad news! He had already quit listening to the presenter, painting in his imagination the delicate details and contours of the newest coin, replete with the kingly profile of Ludwig I of Bavaria.
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And so the liberal Landtag did not survive under the lobbying pressure of the government and aristocracy. After the Polish Uprising in December, the repression had started. The Temporary Liberal Government of Johann Baptist von Sturmer was replaced by the radical team belonging to Count Louis of Oettingen-Wallerstein. The new government began to censor and repress the publishing freedom of the press, resulting in the banning of almost all newspapers in opposition. Due to the high risk of a people’s uprising, the military was sent to the Province of Rhine. Furthermore, many people fell under arrest or exile - mostly leaders of the liberal opposition. The repression did, however, help the Parliament as the new Landtag in 1834 was entirely free of dissent. But this came at the expense of the people, and the dark seed of future revolution was already planted in the fertile Bavarian soil.
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German Talers since 1800 by John S. Davenport
Bavaria, King Ludwig Series (1825 - 1848).
Taler 1834, LEGISLATURE.
Davenport 571, KM 765A (405), Thun 63, AKS 130, J.45.
Commemorative - in honor of legislature of 1834.
Obverse: Head of the Ludwig I to the right, LUDWIG I KOENIG VON BAYERN. ZEHN EINE FEINE MARK
Reverse: EHRE DEM EHRE GEBUHRT, wreath with oak leaves, LANDTAG 1834 inside.
NGC MS 62 PL.
28.0600 g., 0.83300 Silver, 0.7515 oz. ASW.
Proof strike, mirror fields, some hairlines - spectacular coin.