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Document grouping to Oberleutnant Kurt Kummer serving with Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 88.
Certificate to German Cross in Gold. Issued on 21.08.1942. Signed by Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, Knight's Cross winner. Trimmed edges, the document has been framed. Remnants of tape on the reverse.
Certificate to German Cross in Gold. Small type. Issued on 21.08.1942. Signed by Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, Knight's Cross winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class. Issued on 16.07.1941. Signed by Generalmajor Walther Nehring, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 1st Class. Issued on 18.10.1941. Signed by Generalmajor Walther Nehring, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords winner.
Certificate to Infantry Assault Badge in Silver. Issued on 15.09.1941. Signed by Generalmajor Walther Nehring, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords winner.
Certiifcate to Wound Badge in Black. Issued on 10.09.1942. Signed by a Major.
Congratulatory telegram on the award of the German Cross in Gold, sent by General of the Panzertruppe Joachim Lemelsen. Dated "29.08.1942".
A document of a military hospital. Dated "03.08.1942".
Proposal for promotion to Hauptmann. Dated "15.01.1943". It's a photocopy of an original document.
(Apart from the large German Cross in Gold certificate, every document has two holes.)
Heer photo album showing his time as a recruit in 1936 to mainly August 1940. Among them are nice portrait photos of him. One was hand-signed by him on the front and one shows him with the German Cross in Gold. The last pages contain photos from 1941 and 1943. Four photos were added after 1945 (reprints of original photos). Some handwritten notes were also made after 1945.
Condition
2
Historical information
NAME
German Cross in Gold
DATE OF INSTITUTION
28. September 1941 as a military order in two grades. A special grade, the German Cross in Gold with Diamonds was planned and prototypes were made.
AWARD CRITERIA
The golden grade was awarded for multiple exceptional deeds of bravery or leadership and the silver grade for exceptional deeds in troop leadership. The award of the Iron Cross 1. Class, the Spange 1. Class , or the War Merit Cross 1. Class was a pre-requisite for the awarding of the German Cross. The German Cross was located above the Iron Cross 1. Class and War Merit Cross 1. Class but below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, respectively the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross.
MANUFACTURERS
The German Cross was awarded by the decision of the supreme commanders of the three army branches.
The German Cross was produced by five known manufacturers and maybe one or two not yet known companies. The known manufacturers are Deschler & Sohn, who designed the cross, Gebrüder Godet, C.E. Juncker, C.F. Zimmermann, and Otto Klein.
Early crosses are unmarked and from the end of 1942/early 1943 onwards, the crosses were marked with the Präsidialkanzlei numbers of the companies.
Due to the heavy and slightly bulky nature of the award, a cloth version was authorized in June 1942. The cloth version can be found with eight different cloth backing colors: field gray (army), dark blue (navy), blue-gray (LW), black (tank forces), stone gray (assault gun), olive (Africa Heer), light khaki (Africa LW), and white (summer uniform).
AWARD NUMBERS
Accurate numbers are not known but the closest estimation based on surviving documents are 25,964 for the gold grade and 2,471 for the silver grade. A known total of eleven soldiers were awarded both grades.
The crosses were mainly stored and registered at the Präsidalkanzlei and were given out by this office. It is possible that smaller numbers were stored at the personnel offices of the three army branches.
AWARD DOCUMENTS
The Heer issued preliminary award documents in the format A5, followed by a larger (356 mm x 254 mm) formal document. The Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine never issued any preliminary documents, only the formal ones in the same size as the formal document of the Heer.
WEARING METHOD
The German Cross was worn at the right side of the uniform on the breast pocket.
.jpg "Major H. Knauth (J.G.51) - German Cross \"1\"")
