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Iron Cross, 2nd Class

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  • Johannes-Rudolf Mühlenkamp (1910 - 1986)
    Johannes-Rudolf Mühlenkamp (9 October 1910 – 23 September 1986) was a German Waffen-SS officer and divisional commander during World War II who led SS Division Wiking. He was a recipient of the Knigh...
  • Hellmuth Becker (1902 - 1953)
    Hellmuth Becker (12 August 1902, Alt Ruppin, Neuruppin – 28 February 1953) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. In World War II, he led the SS Division Totenkopf and was a recipient of the ...
  • Ehrenfried-Oskar Boege (1889 - 1965)
    Ehrenfried-Oskar Boege (11 November 1889 – 31 December 1965) was a German general during World War II who held several corps level commands. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
  • Werner Marcks (1896 - 1967)
    Werner Marcks (17 July 1896 – 28 July 1967) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several armoured divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cr...
  • Otto Schury (1903 - 1979)
    Otto Schury (22 October 1903 – 11 December 1979) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.

The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz, listen (help·info), abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia established it on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Queen Louise. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). Recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939). During the 1930s and World War II, the Nazi regime superimposed a swastika on the traditional medal.

The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only, though there were instances awarded to civilians for performing military functions, including Hanna Reitsch, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and Iron Cross, 1st Class, and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, for being civilian test pilots during World War II.

The cross symbol's design, black with a white or silver outline, was ultimately derived from the cross pattée of the Teutonic Order and used by knights on occasions from the 13th century.

The Prussian Army black crosses pattée was also used as the symbol of the succeeding German Army from 1871 to March–April 1918, when the Balkenkreuz replaced it. In 1956, it was re-introduced as the symbol of the Bundeswehr, the modern German armed forces (with the "ends" of the white border removed, as in the Balkenkreuz of 1918).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross

Recipients

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Recipients_of_the_Iron_Cross...