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Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves & Swords

Price: $29.50

Product ID : 0107-014-003

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Description

Reddick Militaria's German Third Reich Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords is the finest available! We recently had new dies made with even sharper details and these awards feature an absolutely perfect frosted silver finish. Although made in 1 piece, you will be hard pressed to distinguish these from the originals! Furnished with a correctly made set of Oak Leaves and Swords with suspension loop and a 12” length of neck ribbon of the highest quality.

About the Knight's Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.

The Knight's Cross was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of military valour. Presentations were made to members of the three military branches of the Wehrmacht: the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force), as well as the Waffen-SS, the Reich Labour Service and the Volkssturm, along with personnel from other Axis powers.

The award was instituted on 1 September 1939, at the onset of the German invasion of Poland. The award was created to replace the many older merit and bravery neck awards of the German Empire. A higher grade, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, was instituted in 1940. In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves were instituted: the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, was created. Over 7,000 awards were made during the course of the war.