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Oberleutnant d.Res Gerhard Türke - Award Document to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Oberleutnant d.Res Gerhard Türke - Award Document to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Login to view uncensored pictures

Oberleutnant d.Res Gerhard Türke - Award Document to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

LOT 62-0003
SOLD
Auction ended        22nd October 2022  |  02:01 pm CEST
RESULT
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STARTING PRICE: USD 3.200,00
EUR 0,00
GBP 0,00
EXCL. BUYER’S PREMIUM: 22,50 %
THIS ITEM SHIPS FROM THE USA AND IS SOLD BY HISTORY TRADER INC. (TERMS)

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DESCRIPTion, DETaILS & Photos
SAVE FOR LATER
PERIOD 1918 — 1945
COUNTRY Germany 1918 - 1945
MATERIAL
DIMENSIONS 43.8 x 35.5 cm
MAKER
WEIGHT
US LOT 62-0003
EAN 3000000016145
US LOT 62-0003
PERIOD 1918 — 1945
COUNTRY Germany 1918 - 1945
EAN 3000000016145
MATERIAL
DIMENSIONS 43.8 x 35.5 cm
MAKER
WEIGHT
PERIOD 1918 — 1945
COUNTRY Germany 1918 - 1945
US LOT 62-0003
MATERIAL
DIMENSIONS 43.8 x 35.5 cm
EAN 3000000016145
MAKER
WEIGHT
Germany 1918 - 1945

Description
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Oberleutnant d.Res Gerhard Türke (May 1, 1914 – November 21, 1991)

Gerhard Türke was born May 1st, 1914, in Heinersdorf, Kreis Lebus. From 1934 onwards he studied in Frankfurt to become a teacher and he started teaching in a Volksschule (people’s school) from 1936 onwards. October 17th, 1936, Türke fulfilled his mandatory military service in Infantry Regiment 29 after which he continued teaching in 1938. At the outbreak of WW 2 he was called up again and he participated in the campaign in the West. Together with his unit, he was deployed on the Eastern Front as part of the 6. Armee. Near Stalingrad, he participated in the battles with 3. Infanterie-Division (Motorisiert) and was named Chef of 3. Kompanie. Shortly before 6. Armee capitulated, he was promoted to Hauptmann der Reserve and flown out of the encirclement around Stalingrad. In Biarritz, France, he was named Commander I.Battalion/Grenadier-Regiment 29 (Motorisiert) and deployed near Nettuno in Italy. During the remainder of the war, he and his unit saw action on the Western Front until he, holding the rank of Major der Reserve, was made a POW in the Ruhr area. After WW 2, Türke returned to teaching and on July 10th, 1957, he was named headmaster of a Hauptschule in Gelsenkirchen and held this post up to his retirement in 1979. Gerhard Türke passed away on November 21st, 1991, in Gelsenkirchen. (From Traces of War)

Knights Cross of the Iron Cross formal award document issued to Oberleutnant d.Res Gerhard Türke on parchment with an integral blank front leaf, Führerhauptquartier, December 17, 1942. The ornately lettered document is executed in India ink and gold with a hand-inked signature of Adolf Hitler at the bottom. The parchment is just the slightest bit wavy, as is very common in such documents, but otherwise fine condition. Award documents for the Knight’s Cross are rare, even though Hitler granted over 7,000 of them. A severe backlog soon developed and, in the end, very few recipients of the award ever received their large formal award documents.

The document is part of a veteran bring-back that we proudly offer here for the very first time. The GI opted to bring 9 single formal documents in one red presentation leather folder (Mappe) which will be auctioned with Ratisbon’s through a couple of auctions.


Condition
1-

Seller
History Trader Inc., 521 Thorn Street #165, Sewickly, PA 15143-0165, USA
Historical information

NAME

Knights Cross of the Order of the Iron Cross

DATE OF INSTITUTION

1. September 1939 as the third and new grade of the re-instituted Order of the Iron Cross

AWARD CRITERIA

The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded for exceptional bravery in the face of the enemy and for outstanding merit in troop leadership. The awarding required the previous awarding of the two lower grades. The Knights Cross was solely awarded by the Führer upon the proposal of the soldiers unit and issued by the Heerespersonalamt. The Knights Crosses were stored at the Ordenskanzlei in Berlin, to be sent to the awardee after approval. There were no Knights Crosses stored at any level of the Wehrmacht before the end of April 1945.

MANUFACTURERS

The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was produced by seven manufacturers, not including variations amongst the individual companies. The Knights Crosses can be found either unmarked (early Juncker and 3/4 Ring), with a silver content mark, with an LDO number (L/12 and L/52), and later on with the company’s Präsidialkanzlei number (2, 20, 65, and 4). Private sales were forbidden after October 1941.

AWARD NUMBERS

Accurate numbers are not known but the closest estimation is around 7,200, and most likely another couple of hundred on stock at the Präsidialkanzlei.

AWARD DOCUMENTS

The awardee received a preliminary document in A5 format and issued in the name of the Führer by the responsible personnel offices of the three branches of the Wehrmacht. The formal document (Große Mappe) was issued later and only until date of late 1942 / early 1943 due to the huge backlog.

WEARING METHOD

The Knights Cross was worn around the neck on a wider red white and black ribbon which came within the black award case of the Knights Cross.

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