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The story about the Iron Cross, 2nd Class 1813-1939

The Iron Cross was originally introduced in 1813 to reward the fighting forces of Prussia whose Kaiser had declared war on France and Napoleon on 13 March 1813. Details of the medal were announced on 20 March 1813. It was originally intended to be a pure campaign award and was to replace the other state awards such as the Order of the Red Eagle and the “Pour le Mérite”.
The original design submitted by its instigator Kaiser Fredric Wilhelm was that of a cross “Platte” with a square box centre with chamfered corners. In this box was the Royal Cipher surmounted by the Crown of Prussia. The arms had superimposed upon them a sprig of oak leaves. The quarters of the cross were semi-filled and the date of instigation superimposed one numeral in each quadrant. The medal was to suspend from a ribbon which was comprised of stripes of black, white, broad black, white and black, these being the colours of Prussia. However, this design was not taken up but another submitted by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel was adopted. This was welcomed by the Kaiser who preferred it to his own submission. It comprised a cross “Platte” of black-ened iron. This time the centre had a sprig of three oak leaves. The upper arm had a cipher FW, the initials of the Kaiser, surmounted by the Crown of Prussia, while the lower arm had the date of introduction, 1813. The reverse was plain. Originally the plain side was supposed to have been worn to the front; however, it was decided later to wear the medal the other way round. The blackened iron core was surrounded by a silver frame which was in two parts and soldered together. At the apex was eyelet through which was put a ring to hold the ribbon. The ribbon was, in this case, the same as for that of the former design. The medal was reintroduced for the subsequent campaigns of 1870-1871 (the Franco-Prussian War) and the 1914-1918 (First World War). In each case the only change in the basic design was that the ciphers were altered. That is to say, in the former instance the centre had a W, the top arm the crown and the lower arm 1870, while the reverse was the same as obverse of the 1813 type; and in the latter the only alteration was the date, 1914, on the lower arm of the cross. The ribbon was the same for each period save that there was a non-combatant’s version which had the colours reversed, in other words in white, black broad white, black and white stripes. The order had originated from a purely Prussia award to become the highest award of the German empire in all its grades, and an internationally acclaimed decoration. Hitler introduced on 1 September 1939 the last version of the Iron cross which to all intents and purposes took the same form as all the former types, except he recognized the “all-German” nature of the award and substituted for the oak leaves which formed the central design of the medal the Party or Third Reich emblem of the Swastika. The lower arm had the date 1939 while all the other arms were plain. The reverse was plain also, save for the lower arm which had the year of instigation, 1813. The ribbon in this type also changed to stripes of black, white, broad brick red, white and black. This change has been attributed to recognition of the blood shed in the First World War, which was to represented by the broad red stripe. The Criteria for the award were: 1) For outstanding service to Service personnel and for bravery in the face of enemy. 2) The cross for a higher grade must be preceded by the award of this grade. Hitler did not reintroduce non-combatants´ version of the award, but introduced instead the War Merit Cross series. The medal was usually awarded in a blue paper packet, with the name printed on it. It is also found in a black presentation box, which sometimes has a see-through lid, with a white flock lining and recess for the medal and a recessed area for the ribbon. The lid is lined with a white satin. The overall appearance is that of a miniature Knights Cross box, and this type of box is considered very rare. During the period of 1939-1945 it is estimated that nearly five millions awards were bestowed and these covered all the nationals fighting with the Germans.

Sources: Combat Medals of the Third Reich by Christopher Ailsby