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    Title

  • Chain with miniature medals awarded to Albert Mosse

  • Physical Description

    4 medals : enamel and metal ; 1.4" x 3" (3.5 cm. x 7.5 cm.)

  • Date

    circa 1890

  • Notes

    One gold colored cross appears to have detached from the set.

  • Summary

    Gold-colored chain attached to two stickpins. Four medals are suspended from the chain, two white crosses and two memorial coins. One of the two coins commemorates the first German Kaiser, Wilhelm; the other coin is devoted to “the victorious army “ [Dem siegreichen Heere], 1870/71.

  • Depicted

    William, I, German Emperor, 1797-1888

  • Subject

    Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871

  • Medium

    Coins; Medals; Stickpins

  • Part Of

    Mosse Family Collection, AR 25184

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Albert Mosse was born on October 1, 1846 in Grätz (then the Grand-Duchy of Posen, now Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland) to Marcus Mosse and Ulrike Mosse (neé Wolff). Albert Mosse studied law at the University of Berlin in 1865 thanks to the financial support of his older brothers Salomon and Theodor. He finished his studies in 1868 and entered the ranks of the Prussian state administration. During the Franco-Prussian war 1870/1871 Albert Mosse volunteered for the Prussian army. After working in several court offices on various levels Albert Mosse became a judge of the county court (Kreisgericht) in Spandau, Germany in 1876. Eventually, he was appointed judge of the state court (Landrichter, Landgerichtsrat), which was the highest position an unbaptized Jew could achieve at that time. While serving as a judge in Berlin, he held lectures on public law for Japanese lawyers and diplomats. When the Japanese government decided to modernize Japan's legal system after the Prussian-German model, Albert Mosse was a natural choice for a legal expert due to his contacts with the Japanese embassy. He signed a three-year contract and together with his family left Germany for Japan in 1886. Albert Mosse participated in preparatory work for the new Japanese constitution and worked on other important legal drafts, international agreements, and contracts. The law on local self-government from 1888 was among the most significant of these. After the new Japanese constitution was enacted in 1889, Albert Mosse returned to Germany. He was appointed state supreme court judge in Königsberg (then East Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1890. He also served as an honorary professor of civil and commerce law at the University of Königsberg. The university named him Doctor iuris honoris causa in 1903.

After his retirement in 1907, Albert Mosse returned to Berlin and became involved in communal politics. He served on the Board of City Council and advised the Berlin municipal administration on various legal matters. He also served as the vice-president of the Verband der deutschen Juden (the Union of German Jews) and president of the Board of the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft der Judentums (College for Jewish Studies) in Berlin. Albert Mosse died on May 30, 1925.

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Citation

Chain with miniature medals awarded to Albert Mosse, Leo Baeck Institute, 61.79c.