Iron Cross

Black Cross emblem

The Black Cross (Schwarzes Kreuz) is the emblem used by the Prussian Army and Germany's army from 1871 to the present. It was designed on the occasion of the German Campaign of 1813, when Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia commissioned the Iron Cross as the first military decoration open to all ranks, including enlisted men. From this time, the Black Cross was featured on the Prussian war flag alongside the Black Eagle. It was designed by neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, based on Friedrich Wilhelm III. The design is ultimately derivative of the black cross used by the Teutonic Order. This heraldic cross took various forms throughout the order's history, including a Latin cross, a cross potent, cross fleury, and occasionally also a cross pattée.

When the Quadriga of the Goddess of Peace was retrieved from Paris at Napoleon's fall, it was re-established atop Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. An Iron Cross was inserted into Peace's laurel wreath, making her into a Goddess of Victory. In 1821 Schinkel crowned the top of his design of the National Monument for the Liberation Wars with an Iron Cross, becoming name-giving as Kreuzberg (cross mountain) for the hill it stands on and, 100 years later, for the homonymous quarter adjacent to it.

The Black Cross was used on the naval and combat flags of the German Empire. The Black Cross was used as the German Army symbol until 1915 when a simpler Balkenkreuz replaced it. The Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic (1921–35), the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany (1935–45), and the Bundeswehr (1 October 1956 to present) also inherited the use of the emblem in various forms. The traditional design in black is used on armored vehicles and aircraft, while after German reunification, a new creation in blue and silver was introduced for use in other contexts.

Medal and ribbon design

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) recognized military valour or successful leadership. The Knight's Cross was divided into five degrees:

• Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves (mit Eichenlaub)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten)
• Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten)

In total, 7,313 awards of the Knight's Cross were made. Only 883 received the Oak Leaves; 160 with Oak Leaves and Swords (including Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (posthumously)); 27 with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds; and one with the Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel).

Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (1939)

Main article: Grand Cross of the Iron Cross

Like the Knight's Cross, the Grand Cross (Großkreuz) was worn suspended from the collar. It was reserved for general officers for "the most outstanding strategic decisions affecting the course of the war". The only recipient during the Second World War was Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who was awarded the decoration on 19 July 1940 for his command of the Luftwaffe, after the Battle of France in 1940.

The medal is a larger version of the Knight's Cross, measuring 63 mm wide as opposed to about 44 mm for the Iron Cross and 48.5 mm for the Knight's Cross. It was originally intended to have outer edges lined in gold, but this was changed to silver before the award was presented. It was worn with a 57 mm wide ribbon bearing the same colors as the Knight's Cross and 2nd Class ribbons. The award case was in red leather with the eagle and the swastika outlined in gold.

The original Grand Cross presented to Göring (personally by Hitler) was destroyed during an air raid on his Berlin home. Göring had extra copies made, one of them with a platinum frame that he was wearing at the time of his surrender to the allies in 1945.

Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross

Main article: Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross

The Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (also called Iron Cross with Golden Rays) was pinned to the left breast, above the Iron Cross 1st Class. Like the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, it was for bestowal upon successful general officers.

The Star of the Grand Cross was awarded only twice, both to Field Marshals who already held the Grand Cross: in 1815 to Gebhard von Blücher for his part in the Battle of Waterloo, and in March 1918 to Paul von Hindenburg for his conduct of the 1918 Spring Offensive on the Western Front. It is often called the Blücher Star (Blücherstern), after its first recipient.

A Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross was manufactured in World War II, but never formally instituted or awarded. The only known example, based on the World War I version but with the 1939 Iron Cross centerpiece, was found by Allied forces at the end of the war, and it is now in the museum at West Point. It is likely that Reichsmarschall Göring was the intended eventual recipient. He was the only holder of the World War II Iron Cross Grand Cross, and both the previous recipients of the Star had already received the Grand Cross.

Side features of the Iron Cross and entitlements

Officers awarded the Iron Cross were given entitlements and often wore signifying articles, such as an Iron Cross signet ring or cloth Iron Cross which could be affixed to clothing. Also, during the Nazi period, those attaining more than one award, for example, an officer who had attained an Iron Cross 2nd Class, an Iron Cross 1st Class, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with the Oak Leaves, were entitled to wear a pin which exhibited three Iron Crosses with an exaggerated swastika, thereby consolidating the awards.

In some cases, Minox miniature cameras were given to people together with an Iron Cross.

Post-World War II

As modern German law prohibits the production and display of items containing Nazi insignia, the West German government authorized replacement Iron Crosses in 1957 with a trifoliate Oak Leaf Cluster in place of the swastika, similar to the Iron Crosses of 1813, 1870, and 1914, which could be worn by World War II Iron Cross recipients. The 1957 law also authorized de-Nazified versions of most other World War II-era decorations (except those specifically associated with Nazi Party organizations, such as SS Long Service medals, or with the expansion of the German Reich, such as the medals for the annexation of Austria, the Sudetenland and the Memel region).

After post-war German armed forces began seeing active service, first in Kosovo and then in Afghanistan, a campaign began to revive the Iron Cross and other military medals, since Germany had no awards specifically for active military service. In 2007, a petition to the German parliament to revive the Iron Cross decoration was initiated, quickly receiving over 5,000 signatures. On 13 December 2007 parliament decided to let the Ministry of Defence decide the matter. On 6 March 2008, President Horst Köhler approved a proposal by Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung to institute a new award for bravery. The Ehrenzeichen der Bundeswehr (Badge of Honor of the German Armed Forces) series was instituted on 10 October 2008. However, it does not have the traditional form of the Iron Cross (instead more closely resembling the Prussian Military Merit Cross), but is seen as a supplement of existing awards of the Bundeswehr.

File:Bundeswehr Kreuz.svg|Emblem of the Bundeswehr, the modern German armed forces (since 1956) File:BWEhrenkreuzGold.jpg|Badge of Honor of the German Armed Forces File:Barracuda av dr.jpg|Iron Cross insignia on a UAV Barracuda File:Militärflugplatz Laupheim 12.jpg|Iron Cross insignia on a German Air Force CH-53G in 2015 File:Leopard 2A7 right side.JPG|The Iron Cross insignia on a Leopard 2 main battle tank turret File:COA Reservistenverband BW.svg|Reservist Association of Deutsche Bundeswehr File:COA Soldatenhilfswerk der Bundeswehr.svg|Bundeswehr Soldiers' Relief Fund File:LKdo Berlin.jpg|Standortkommando Berlin File:DEU Panzerbataillon 524 COA.svg|Association badge of the tank battalion 524 File:DEU Panzerbataillon 403 COA.svg|Association badge of the tank battalion 403 (außer Dienst gestellt) File:DEU Panzerbataillon 413 COA.svg|Association badge of the tank battalion 413 File:Polvolcorp.svg|Emblem of the Polish Volunteer Corps

Biker and heavy metal subcultures

In the United States and elsewhere, the Iron Cross was adopted by outlaw motorcycle clubs in the 1960s, as a symbol of rebellion and probably for shock value. From biker subculture it spread to rock and heavy metal subcultures, becoming part of heavy metal fashion. Lemmy of the influential band Motörhead often wore one. In the 1990s, this other use of the Iron Cross had spread from bikers to skateboarders and many extreme sports enthusiasts and became part of the logo of several related clothing companies. The Anti-Defamation League states that the version of the symbol with a swastika has been commonly used by neo-Nazis and other white supremacists as a hate symbol since it was discontinued following World War II, but the wider use of the Iron Cross in various subcultures means determining its use as a hate symbol relies on context: "an Iron Cross in isolation (i.e., without a superimposed swastika or without other accompanying hate symbols) cannot be determined to be a hate symbol".

Gallery of medal ribbons

Notes

References

• Maerz, Dietrich/Stimson, George "The Iron Cross 1. Class", 2010,
• Maerz, Dietrich, "Award Numbers of the Iron Cross of 1939", International Medal Collector, Vol.3-No.4 and Vol. 4-No.s,
• Previtera, Stephen Thomas, The Iron Time: A History of the Iron Cross, Second edition 2007,
• Williamson, Gordon, The Iron Cross of 1939, 1997,
• Maerz, Dietrich/Mario Alt, "The Iron Cross 2. Class", 2019,

References

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