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Excellent and rare document grouping to Korvettenkapitän Georg Pinkepank. He served as commander of the 40. and 1. Minensuchflottille as well as the 2. Räumbootsflottille. Knight's Cross and German Cross in Gold winner. After the war, he served with the German Bundesmarine. His last rank was Fregattenkapitän (Bundesmarine).
Certificate to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Issued on 14.08.1944. Signed by Korvettenkapitän Bodo Elleke. An extremely rare document! Including two congratulatory telegrams from Großadmiral Karl Dönitz and Erich Raeder as well as the cover letter sent to Pinkepank along with the certificate.
A letter from Weltbild G.M.B.H. to Pinkepank requesting a portrait photo of him wearing the Knight's Cross. They need the photo for a press release.
Certificate to German Cross in Gold. Issued on 17.12.1943. Signed by Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner. Including the cover letter sent to Pinkepank along with the certificate.
Certificate to Wound Badge in Black. Issued on 13.08.1944. Signed by Fregattenkapitän Adalbert von Blanc, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner.
Certificate to Minesweeper War Badge. Issued on 05.11.1940. Signed by Kapitän zur See Friedrich Ruge, Knight's Cross winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 1st Class. Issued on 21.11.1940. Signed by Vizeadmiral Hermann Mootz, German Cross in Silver winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class. Issued on 10.10.1939. Signed by Generaladmiral Conrad Albrecht.
Certificate to Memel Medal. Issued on 26.10.1939. Facsimile signature by Meissner.
Certificate to Sudetenland Medal. Issued on 20.12.1939. Signed by Fregattenkapitän Nicolai Schulz-Carstensen.
Kriegsmarine promotion document. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän. Issued on 26.02.1943. Signed by Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner. Facsimile signature by Adolf Hitler.
Kriegsmarine promotion document. Promoted to Kapitänleutnant. Issued on 04.04.1940. Signed by Großadmiral Erich Raeder, Knight's Cross winner.
Wehrmacht promotion document. Promoted to Oberleutnant zur See. Issued on 15.09.1937. Signed by Reichskriegsminister Werner von Blomberg, Pour le Mérite winner. It has two holes.
Wehrmacht promotion document. Promoted to Leutnant zur See. Issued on 01.01.1936. Signed by Reichskriegsminister Werner von Blomberg, Pour le Mérite winner. It has two holes.
An assessment by Pinkepank of Oberleutnant Alexander Meyer. Hand-signed by him. Dated "06.02.1942". Also signed by Kapitän zur See Hans Hartmann, German Cross in Gold winner.
A period time newspaper clipping reporting the award of the Knight's Cross Award to Pinkepank.
Hand-signed portrait photo of Pinkepank (reprint of an original photo). Size: 17x24 cm.
27 nice Kriegsmarine photos. Three photos show him with the German Cross in Gold. Furthermore photos of other Kriegsmarine Knight's Cross winners such as Leutnant zur See Hermann Bögel, Fregattenkapitän Karl Palmgren, Fregattenkapitän Fritz Breithaupt and Großadmiral Karl Dönitz. Among them are two hand-signed portrait photos of him wearing the Knight's Cross (reprints of original photos).
Groupings of Kriegsmarine Knight's Cross winners are very rare to find.
Good condition 2.
Condition
2
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.
