Iron Cross. Germany's most famous and prestigious award

From the history of the award. Prussia and the Second Reich

The Iron Cross was instituted on March 10, 1813 during the war for the liberation of the Kingdom of Prussia from Napoleon's army. The new award was supposed to rally the Prussian army and people in the struggle for the liberation of their country from French occupation. It is believed that the sketch of the order was made by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III himself. However, the final version was prepared by the famous German architect and artist Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

The shape of the order resembled the cross of the Teutonic Order. The award, unlike others, was deliberately made without a large amount of precious metals, it was an ordinary iron in a silver frame. The order reflected the spirit of the time: the people collected money and jewelry for the war against Napoleon. Jewelry made of precious metal was changed to simple iron with the slogan: "Gold for protection, iron for honor." This idea turned out to be so successful that the cross survived without radical changes throughout its entire life. stories.

The front side was clean. In the center of the reverse side there was a bas-relief in the form of three diverging oak leaves. Above them on the upper beam was placed the monogram of the founder of the Order of King Frederick William III - the letters FW (from Friedrich Wilhelm). On the lower beam was placed the date of foundation of the order - the numbers "1813". In the future, the dates of the restoration of the order appeared - 1870, 1914 or 1939. In 1871 and 1914, the initials of Emperors Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II, respectively, were in the center, and a stylized Prussian royal crown was in the upper part. Having restored the order in 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered that a swastika be added to the center of the order instead of his initials.

The Iron Cross became the first award in Europe, which was awarded regardless of rank, rank or estate, but only for military exploits, which greatly increased its popularity. From 1813 to 1918 there were 4 degrees of the order: Iron Cross 2nd class; Iron Cross 1st class; Grand Cross of the Iron Cross; Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. The cross was awarded on a black sash with a white border (black and white are the colors of Prussia). On a white ribbon with a black border, the award was not received for military merit.

Only the highest officers of the German army were awarded the Grand Cross. During the war with Napoleon, 5 commanders received the award: Blucher, Bülow, Crown Prince Karl Johan (Bernadotte), Tauenzin von Wittenberg and York. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) - 9 commanders. During World War I (1914–1918) five commanders: Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Kaiser Wilhelm II himself, Mackensen and Prince Leopold of Bavaria.

The highest degree of the cross - the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, was received by two of the most prominent German commanders: in 1813, Field Marshal Gebhard Blucher and in 1918, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. These awards were known as the Blucher Star and the Hindenburg Star. This award consisted of a golden eight-pointed star with the sign of the Grand Cross superimposed in the center.

Paul von Hindenburg with the badge of the Grand Cross around his neck and a star on the left side of his chest

Third Reich

After the fall of the Second Reich and the creation of the Weimar Republic, it was decided to abolish all the old orders and refuse to establish new ones. In 1939, Hitler restored the order as an all-German award. The knighthood of the Iron Cross was introduced. It was worn not on the traditional black and white, but on a black, white and red (the colors of the Nazi flag) sash.

Six grades were established in 1940: Iron Cross 2nd Class; Iron Cross 1st class; Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves; Grand Cross of the Iron Cross; Star Grand Cross of the Iron Cross or Iron Cross with golden rays. Then new degrees of the order were added: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves and swords; Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds; Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

After the victory in the world war in Germany, it was planned to have 12 best warrior knights. But the only owner of this award since December 29, 1944 was the famous ace, the most productive pilot of the Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber Hans Ulrich Rudel.

The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross was also awarded only once - on July 19, 1940, to the head of the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering. On April 23, 1945, the award was withdrawn when Göring betrayed the Fuhrer.

Thus, today this award symbolizes the valor of the old Prussian warriors, the great victories of the Bismarck era and the courage of the German soldiers of the First and Second World Wars.

The Iron Cross has traditionally been depicted on German military equipment as an identification mark since the First World War. Currently, the function of the Iron Cross, as the highest award in the Bundeswehr, is performed by the Bundeswehr Cross of Honor for Bravery.

Knight's Iron Crosses of the Third Reich 1939: 18. with oak leaves, swords and diamonds 19. with oak leaves and swords 20. with oak leaves 21. regular

Comments

[Richard]

It is strange why Alexander, having described all the types of Eisernes Kreuz, did not mention the Kulm Cross?
a photo. Soldier's Kulm cross.

a photo. Officer's Kulm cross.

The Kulm Cross - in the Russian version of the "Insignia of the Iron Cross" by analogy with the "Insignia of the Military Order" (soldier's George Cross), a Prussian award for all Russian participants in the Battle of Kulm.

The Kulm Cross, completely identical in size and shape, differed from the Prussian Order of the Iron Cross only in that it did not have the date and the monogram of the king. 12 people were presented to be awarded this cross, but only 066 soldiers who survived by 7131 were able to receive the award. The first crosses were made from the metal of captured French cuirassiers.

[parusnik]

It is strange why Alexander, having described all the types of Eisernes Kreuz, did not mention the Kulm Cross?

Probably in the source used it is not indicated about him.

[not the one]

describing all types of Eisernes Kreuz

Could you add an image

1) Iron Cross 2nd class (obverse and reverse) for combatants;

2) Iron Cross 2nd class (obverse and reverse for non-combatants) - on a white and black ribbon the tape was not produced;

3) Iron Cross of the 2nd degree (obverse) for combatants - subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Dual (Danube) Monarchy (the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, united on the basis of a personal union headed by a monarch from the House of Habsburg, who was both the Austrian emperor and the Hungarian king ) - differs only in the ribbon of the Austro-Hungarian sample;

4) Fastening to the ribbon of a combatant previously awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for participation in the German-French (in the Russian tradition: Franco-Prussian) war of 1970-1871) and repeatedly awarded the same degree of the same award for military merit in years of the First World War (1916–1918);

5) Iron Cross 1st class (only combatants were awarded it);

6) Grand Cross of the Iron Cross;

7) The so-called "Star to the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross"; in reality - a special award not provided for by the Statute (Charter) of the Prussian Iron Cross (not considered an order, in contrast to the later Hitlerite All-German Iron Cross, issued from 1939 to 1945).

[not the one]

During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) - 9 commanders.

1) Helmut Count von Moltke (March 22, 1871)
2) August Carl von Goeben (March 22, 1871)
3) Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (March 22, 1871)
4) Crown Prince Albert of Saxony (March 22, 1871)
5) August Carl von Werder (March 22, 1871)
6) Edwin von Manteuffel (March 22, 1871)
7) Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (March 22, 1871)
8) King Wilhelm I of Prussia (June 16, 1871)
9) Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (December 4, 1871)

[Catfish]

1) Helmut Count von Moltke (March 22, 1871)
2) August Carl von Goeben (March 22, 1871)

Hi Alexey!
Of the entire company, only these two were honored to donate their names to warships.
Moltke-class battlecruisers. Well, "Goeben", you understand, is better known in our historiography thanks to the "Sevastopol wake-up call" and his further adventures in the Black Sea under the pseudonym))) "Sultan Selim Yavuz". Although what, in fact, August von Goeben himself is famous for (a man, not a "steamboat"), few people here know.
Cruiser "Goeben"

[Bogalex]

It is strange why Alexander, having described all the types of Eisernes Kreuz, did not mention the Kulm Cross?

Apparently because the Kulm Cross is not a degree or variety of the Iron Cross. This is a standalone award.

[Hunter 2]

Good morning everybody I have a hobby, I collect coins (a bit of a numismatist), sometimes I meet (correspond) with serious collectors ... among them there are several people involved in phaleristics (collecting awards), and so in Russia, the population of these iron crosses has almost more in their hands than in Germany. Many "awarded" remained on Our land, along with awards, and Our army successfully visited European capitals. In the vaults of the provincial museum itself there are very serious collections of awards from both German and the rest of Europe, from Napoleon up to the present day. Now both Ukrainian and European insignia are coming from Ukraine in the form of "trophies".

[Reader_lover]

I don’t know how it is now, but in the late 90s and early XNUMXs in Poland they were stamped in commercial quantities. The whole of Kaliningrad was littered with them. Moreover, they were old in order to suck in naive tourists.

[Richard]

Currently, the function of the Iron Cross, as the highest award in the Bundeswehr, is performed by the "Bundeswehr Cross of Honor for Bravery" (German: Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr für Tapferkeit), with a design based on the "Order of the Crown" (Prussia).

[Richard]

Interesting fact: After the victory over Napoleon, the goddess Victoria, taken out by the French from the Brandenburg Gate, returned to Berlin from Paris and received the Iron Cross created by F. Schinkel.
a photo Gilded statue of the goddess Victoria on top of the Brandenburg Gate Victory Column

[not the one]

On Heinrich Strack's Victory Column, Johann Friedrich Drake's "Golden Elsa" originally held a military badge with the Iron Cross in her left hand.

[not the one]

Awarded was Victoria (formerly the goddess of the world Eirene with a laurel wreath in her hand) from the quadriga. Having defeated Bonaparte, the Prussian emperor then rewarded the "captive" with an iron cross and an oak wreath

[parusnik]

this award symbolizes the valor of the old Prussian warriors, the great victories of the Bismarck era and the bravery of the German soldiers of the First and Second World Wars.

For the downed Po-2, on the Eastern Front of World War II, the brave German pilots were awarded the mentioned award. And for this too.

Arkady Plastov."Fascist flew"

[Korsar4]

Messer came out in my tail, but then he smoked,
Screws howled impatiently.
They don’t even need crosses to the graves,
Crosses will come down on wings too!

[parusnik]

A black cross on the chest of an Italian
No carving, no pattern, no gloss, -
A poor family stored
And the only son wearable ...

A young native of Naples!
What left you in Russia on the field?
Why couldn't you be happy
Over native famous bay?

I who killed you under Mozdok
So dreamed of a distant volcano!
How I dreamed about the Volga
Take a ride in the gondola just once!

But I didn’t come with a gun
Take away the Italian summer
But my bullets didn’t whistle
Above the holy land of Raphael!

Here I shot! Here where I was born
Where I was proud of myself and my friends,
Where epics about our peoples
Never sound in translations.

Is Middle Don Bend
Studied by foreign scientists?
Our land - Russia, Rasey -
Have you opened and planted?

Not! You brought in echelon
To capture distant colonies,
To cross from the casket from the family
Grew up to the size of a grave ...

I will not let my country take out
For the vastness of the foreign seas!
I shoot - and there is no justice
More fair than my bullet!

You have never lived here and have never been! ..
But scattered in the snow fields
Italian blue sky
Glazed in the dead eyes ...
M. Svetlov. Italian. 1943

[Andrey NM]

Iron Cross. Germany's most famous and prestigious award

The most prestigious award for a gallant German soldier of all time is the birch cross...

[Alien From]

Absolutely agree! Now everything is covered, (I would take a picture), but we have a monument in the Smolensk region, in the form of a bent propeller of our aircraft in honor of all pilots! so no crosses over our sky!
Interesting article, great comments! Thanks to all

[north 2]

Gerhard Blucher was never an outstanding German commander, as the author of the article writes to us about Blucher. Moreover, when the Prussian commander Blucher showed his military talent, for which he was awarded this order, Germany didn’t even exist then ...
The Order of the Iron Cross itself would have been completely harmless (a cross of a similar shape was even on the Order of St. George the Victorious in the Russian Empire and on the Order of the Victoria Cross in Great Britain) until the Nazis defiled this cross, receiving it as a reward for the extermination of people. Fascism became the "passport" of the Iron Cross. The Nazis even had something in the form of a slogan. that he is not a real fascist who is not awarded the Order of the Iron Cross ...
But the fact that in St. Petersburg, somewhere around 2007, I burned with shame looking at the abundance of these Iron Crosses in souvenir shops in the very center of St. Petersburg, and even then foreigners began to salivate, why did you have so many original Iron Crosses with numbers who starved Petersburg into the blockade, if you have been keeping the orders of your tormentors for so many years, does this mean that, either there was no blockade of Petersburg, or every tenth collector you have ... I then thought that it was necessary first to smash these shops with traders, either he will answer these foreigners, or first answer the foreigners ... It was a shame for Russia then ..
But now I see such crosses not only in the symbols of the Ukrainian Nazis, but also very similar crosses on biker jackets in Russia itself. I assume that bikers in Russia, simply from ignorance of the history of their country, unconsciously put on such jackets ... Perhaps this summer, the symbols Z, V, O will flaunt on their jackets.

[not the one]

In the future, the dates of the restoration of the order appeared - 1870, 1914

postcard with the decree of Wilhelm I on the revival of the Iron Cross in the form of 1914. dated August 05, 1914.

[not the one]

"We, WILHELM, by the Grace of God, King of Prussia and other
William".

In view of the serious situation in which the dear Fatherland has been transferred by the war imposed on it, and in grateful memory of the exploits of our ancestors during the great years of the Wars of Independence and the struggle for the creation of a united Germany, we want to re-call to life the Order of the Iron Cross established by our deceased Great-Grandfather in Boz.

The Iron Cross is to be awarded, without distinction of rank or status, to officers of the army, navy and Landsturm, members of the voluntary service for the care of the wounded, and all others who will be called to serve their labor service in the army or navy, as military officers of the army and Navy, for merit in the theater of operations. Also, people acquire merit for the good of the German Armed Forces and for the good of their allies and should receive a cross.
In accordance with this decision, We prescribe the following:
The Iron Cross recreated for this war should, as before, consist of two classes and a Grand Cross. The signs of the order, as well as the ribbon, remain unchanged, only the digital designation of the year - 1914 - must be placed on the front side under the monogram with a crown.
The 2nd class cross is worn on a black ribbon with a white edging, if the merits are acquired in direct combat with the enemy. The Home Front Merit Cross is worn on a white ribbon with a black piping. The 1st class cross is worn on the left side of the chest, the Grand Cross is worn on the neck.
The 1st class cross is awarded only after the 2nd class cross has been awarded and is worn simultaneously with it.
The awarding of the Grand Cross is not conditional on previous awards of 1st and 2nd class crosses. It can only be awarded for winning a decisive battle when the enemy was forced to leave their positions, or for the independent, successful leadership of an army or fleet, or for the capture of a large fortress, or for a stubborn defense and preservation of an important fortress.

All the benefits that have hitherto been associated with the possession of military awards 1st and 2nd class, while maintaining the highest approved honorary allowance, apply to the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class.

The original document is sealed by His Majesty's own signature and the Royal Seal.

Given in Berlin on August 5, 1914

[mr.ZinGer]

Only one woman, Hana Reitsch, a test pilot, was awarded the Iron Cross First Class.

[Catfish]

Reitsch became the first female test pilot for the Luftwaffe. She flew Me.163 "Kometa", Me.323 "Giant", etc. She took part in hostilities during World War II on the Soviet-German front. For military merit in March 1941 she was awarded the Iron Cross 1942nd Class, and in February XNUMX - XNUMXst Class (the only woman whose award of the Iron Cross XNUMXst Class is documented). She had the honorary rank of pilot-captain.

Fanatic. On April 27, 1945, she accompanied Robert von Greim during his flight to Berlin besieged by Soviet troops to meet with Hitler at the Reich Chancellery. During this flight, von Greim was injured, Reitsch took control of the plane and landed the plane on the highway near the Reich Chancellery [7].

In the Fuhrerbunker, Reitsch asked Hitler to allow her to stay in Berlin and share his fate, but Hitler ordered her to leave Berlin with Greim. On April 30, on the last available plane, they flew to the headquarters of Hitler's successor, Grand Admiral Dönitz, in Captivity near Kiel. On May 9, together with Greim, Reitsch surrendered to the American military authorities[8]. After her arrest, she spent 18 months in prisoner-of-war and internee camps. In 1946 she was released.

[Bogalex]

The Iron Cross became the first award in Europe, which was awarded regardless of rank, rank or estate, but only for military exploits, which greatly increased its popularity.

Come on! Doesn't the Order of the Legion of Honor count?

[Yaroslav Tekkel]

I join! Got the Germanophiles.