City of Hamburg Bronze Medal Commemorating the Great Fire of 1842 / Phoenix Rising and Detailed Map of City Larger photos and a bit more info can be found on this page: http://www.cachecoins.org/hamburg1842.htm
I believe it was orc that said it looked like a chicken I tend to agree... it looks a bit like a chicken jumping over a camp fire. I feel its still attractive with an interesting historical theme. There is, in fact, what appears to be a place that reenacts it in what appears to be a mix of horror and amusement rides. http://www.thedungeons.com/en/hamburg-dungeon/guide.html#content
Indeed. But the other side of the medal is nicely done. By the way, that fire also destroyed the Hamburg mint. Took many years until the city decided to build a new one. That new mint opened in 1875. Here is a book about Hamburg medals, written just a few years after that 1842 fire. The link (hope it works) should take you right to the page that deals with your medal: http://books.google.de/books?id=s2ICAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPA113,M1 Christian
At first I thought the arrow depicted in the Norderelbe was a north indicator, but that can't be the case, north looks to be the standard 12 o'clock. It must be there to show the flow direction of the river. Interesting medal, and yes they could have shown something more dramatic than a girl scout fire on the obverse.
