The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) stands as one of the most recognized and significant military decorations of the Second World War. It was instituted on 1 September 1939 by Adolf Hitler through the enactment published as Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573, titled “Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes” (Ordinance re-establishing the Iron Cross). This act revived a decorative tradition stretching back to the Napoleonic Wars, when Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III established the original Iron Cross on 13 March 1813 at the outset of the German campaign. The original design — a silver-framed cast iron cross — was profoundly symbolic: iron was a material that symbolized defiance and reflected the spirit of the age. The king implored wealthy Prussians to turn in their jewels in exchange for cast-iron items bearing the legend “Gold I gave for iron.”
With its renewal in 1939, the Iron Cross was transformed from a Prussian into a German decoration. Within this framework, the Knight’s Cross was introduced as a new grade situated between the Iron Cross First Class and the Grand Cross. To qualify for the Knight’s Cross, a soldier was generally required to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though in some cases the Iron Cross First Class was awarded concurrently. The decoration could be bestowed for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks — from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of military valor. U-boat commanders could qualify by sinking 100,000 tons of shipping, while Luftwaffe pilots could qualify by accumulating 20 “points” (one point for shooting down a single-engine aircraft, two for a twin-engine, and three for a four-engine plane, with all points doubled at night).
The first presentations of the Knight’s Cross took place on 30 September 1939, following the German invasion of Poland. Among the inaugural recipients were Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch, Supreme Commander of the Army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres), as well as Blaskowitz, Bock, Göring, Keitel, Kesselring, Loehr, Kluge, Küchler, List, Raeder, Reichenau, and Rundstedt. Over the course of the war, the Knight’s Cross was eventually awarded in five grades: the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (1 September 1939), the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves (3 June 1940), the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (instituted 15 July 1941), the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (instituted 15 July 1941), and the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (instituted 29 December 1944).
Presentations were made to members of all three military branches of the Wehrmacht — the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy), and the Luftwaffe (air force) — as well as the Waffen-SS, the Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst), and the Volkssturm, along with personnel from other Axis powers. Among the most notable recipients, Hans-Ulrich Rudel received the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 1 January 1945. Werner Mölders and Adolf Galland were the first recipients of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring was the sole recipient of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded on 19 July 1940.
The Manufacturer: C.E. Juncker, Berlin
The firm C.E. Juncker was founded in Berlin in 1851 by Carl Eduard Juncker. Until 1913, the company operated exclusively as a manufacturer and seller of uniforms and uniform insignia. From 1913 onward, the focus shifted increasingly toward the distribution and production of medals and badges. The company was headquartered at Alte Jakobstrasse 13, Berlin, SW 68. At the outbreak of war in 1939, C.E. Juncker was one of the first producers of the reinstated Iron Cross and the newly established Knight’s Cross, making it an official supplier to the Order’s Chancellery (Ordenskanzlei).
The present piece is described as one of the very early productions of C.E. Juncker, dating to approximately 1939/40. The Knight’s Cross takes the form of a cross pattée — a cross with arms that are narrow at the center and broader at the perimeter. The obverse features a swastika in the center and the date of institution “1939” on the lower arm; the reverse displays the original foundation year “1813.” The piece consists of a blackened core with a silver frame, the band ring stamped “800” on the reverse, indicating the standard silver hallmark for Knight’s Cross production. Juncker crosses were typically marked with the coded manufacturer’s abbreviation “L/12” or later with “2,” which stood for C.E. Juncker in the code system of the Presidential Chancellery. A characteristic hallmark of the Juncker variant is the so-called “picket fence effect” on the central inner corners of the frame, where the ribs of the individual inner edges converge in a distinctive pattern. The shape and embossing of the dates on obverse and reverse (1939 and 1813) are always consistent and absolutely characteristic of all Juncker Knight’s Crosses.
The company headquarters was almost completely destroyed by Allied air raids in 1944, and production ceased. After the end of the war, the Juncker company resumed production in West Berlin (Kreuzberg) in the early 1950s, becoming one of the first producers of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Cross of Merit).
Post-War Legacy and Legal Framework
German law prohibits the wearing of a swastika. On 26 July 1957, the West German government authorized a replacement Knight’s Cross featuring an oak leaf cluster in place of the swastika, similar to the Iron Cross of 1914 and the denazified Iron Cross of 1957. World War II recipients were permitted to wear this replacement version.
This early Juncker-produced Knight’s Cross represents a piece from the very first phase of production of one of the most consequential military decorations of the twentieth century — manufactured by a firm whose history has been intertwined with the story of German orders and decorations since the mid-nineteenth century.
