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Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. The "Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds" is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944. This grade of the award was to be awarded twelve times only. The sole recipient was Oberstleutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
- Overview
- Grand Cross of the Iron Cross
- Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Foreign recipients
- References
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military of the Third Reich. Recipients are grouped by grades of the Knight's Cross. Within each grade the recipients are ordered chronologically. An exception is the lowest grade, here the recipients are ordered alphabetically by last name. The rank listed is the recipient's rank at the time the Knight's Cross was awarded. Broken out into sub lists are the recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, one list for every year between 1940 and 1945 the award was presented. Also listed separately are the alphabetical lists of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients. The foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross and the foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves are listed separately as well.
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 instituted the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed, some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940. In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 introduced the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten). At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944, concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.
This along with the * (asterisk), indicates that the Knight's Cross was awarded posthumously.
This indicates that historian Veit Scherzer has expressed doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.
The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of September 1, 1939 Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes (Regulation of the renewing of the Iron Cross). This grade was awarded only once. The sole recipient was Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring, who at the same time was promoted to Reichsmars...
The "Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds" is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944. This grade of the award was to be awarded twelve times only. The sole recipient was Oberstleutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
The "Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds" is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 to reward those servicemen who had already been awarded the Oak Leaves with Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Ultimately, it would be awarded to only twenty-seven German soldiers, sailors and airmen, rang...
The "Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords" is also based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 to reward those servicemen who had already been awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The sequential numbers greater than 143 are unofficial and were assigned by the Association of Knight's Cross R...
The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves was based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940. A total of 7 awards were made in 1940; 50 in 1941; 111 in 1942; 192 in 1943; 328 in 1944, and 194 in 1945, giving a total of 882 recipients—excluding the 8 foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The number of 882 Oak Leaves recipients is based on the analysis and acceptance of the order commission of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR). Author and historian Veit Scherzer has challenged the validity of 27 of these listings. With the exception of Hermann Fegelein, all of the disputed recipients had received the award in 1945, when the deteriorating situation of the Third Reich during the final days of World War II left the nominations unfinished in various stages of the approval process.
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1940–1941)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1942)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1943)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1944)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1945)
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of September 1, 1939 Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes (Regulation of the renewing of the Iron Cross).
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (A)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (Ba–Bm)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (Bn–Bz)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (C)
•List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (D)
Foreign soldiers and servicemen who did not serve in one of the four branches of the German Wehrmacht during World War II and were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross or its higher grade the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves are listed in the List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Citations
General
•Berger, Florian (1999). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (in German). Vienna, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
•Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
•Fraschka, Günther (1994). Knights of the Reich. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military/Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-580-0.
•Krätschmer, Ernst-Günther (1999). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS (in German). Coburg, Germany: Nation Europa Verlag GmbH. ISBN 3-920677-43-9.
Of the 324 awards made to servicemen whose last name starts with "P", 32 were later awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and six the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords; 32 presentations were made posthumously. Heer members received 208 of the medals, including one to the Volkssturm; 15 went to ...
NameServiceRankRole And Unit [note 2]Commander of the III.Chief of the 3./Pionier-Bataillon 296 ...14-H Hauptmann of the Reserves [16]Commander of Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon ...Commander of Grenadier-Regiment 222 [14] ...People also ask
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List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (L) List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Luftwaffe fighter force; List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords or Diamonds recipients of the Luftwaffe fighter force
Fellgiebel was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and was also the former chairman and head of the order commission of the AKCR. In 1996, a second edition of this book was published with an addendum delisting 11 of the recipients. In 2007, Veit Scherzer published his Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [ The Knight's Cross ...
These recipients are listed in the 1986 edition of Walther-Peer Fellgiebel 's book, Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945. Fellgiebel was the former chairman and head of the order commission of the AKCR. In 1996, the second edition of this book was ...
