Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

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The penultimate expression of the award: the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) recognized extreme battlefield bravery or successful leadership during the Third Reich period. The award was issued between 1939 and 1945.

Prerequisites

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to have held the 1939 Iron Cross First Class already.

Grades

The Knight's Cross was divided into five grades:

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 Brillianten)
Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillianten)

In total, 7,313 awards of the Knight's Cross were made, but only 883 received Oak Leaves and 159 received Oak Leaves and Swords (plus one honorary recipient, the Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto). Only 27 men were ever awarded the Diamonds grade of the Knight's Cross (10 ace pilots, 2 U-boat captains, 1 colonel, 14 generals and field marshals), and Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Approximately 1,730 awards were to Luftwaffe personnel.

The Knight's Cross was worn as a neck order suspended from the collar.

Image:RK_EK.png|Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Image:RK_EK_mit_einchenlaub.png|With Oak Leaves Image:RK_EK_mit_ol_sw.png|With Oak Leaves and Swords Image:RK_EK_mit_ol_sw_di.png|With Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds Image:RK_EK_gold.png|With Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds

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