King Frederick William III of Prussia initially created the Iron Cross as a military decoration on March 17, 1813, during the Napoleonic Wars. The Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (1870), World War I (1914), and World War II (1939).
The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only but awarded to civilians for performing military functions in a few instances.
.jpg "1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class \"S\" with bag")
