Medal of the Citadel of Antwerp

1815–1914 (Modern era to the First World War)

The Antwerp Citadel Medal was established by Royal Decree of 31 May 1833 by King William I as a reward for the soldiers who defended the citadel during the siege of 24 December 1832. The medal, struck by the Royal Mint and engraved by Johannes Petrus Schouberg, was presented on 26 August 1833 during a ceremony at the Gorsselse Hei.

The obverse of the medal bears the inscription ‘CITADEL OF ANTWERP’, whilst the reverse features the crowned monogram ‘W’ with the date ‘DECEMBER 1832’. A distinctive feature of this award is that a bronze laurel wreath, placed between the ribbon and the medal, was unofficially worn by those who had received an Honourable Mention.

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General

Start date	1833
End date	1833
Captions	voorzijde: CITADEL / VAN / ANTWERPEN; keerzijde, opschrift: [kroon] W DECEMBER 1832
Dimensions [width]	30 mm
Material	bronze
Number

Background

Institutional decision	Royal Decree, 31 May 1833
Additions
Objective	Established as a reward for the defenders of the Citadel of Antwerp against the French.
(Historical) context	In August 1830, an uprising broke out in Brussels against the reign of King William I. The uprising spread rapidly across the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. They seceded and, in July 1831, elected Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as king. The Citadel of Antwerp remained in Dutch hands until the end of 1832. On 24 December of that year, General Chassé and his troops surrendered to the French army, which had come to the aid of the new kingdom.
Producer	The Royal Mint; Johannes Petrus Schouberg
Bibliography	Orders and Decorations of the Netherlands, 59, 61
Note	The die-cutters at ‘s Rijks Munt carried out their work without payment. Hendrik Heus & Sons and W. van Heijnsbergen also did not charge for the bronze or the ribbon for the medals. On 26 August 1833, the medals were presented during a ceremony at the Gorsselse Hei.