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Condition: Excellent
Pattern: Heavy
Maker: Deschler & Sohn, München
Material: Tombak
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Product Description: Here’s a great German Cross in Gold made by the firm Deschler & Sohn, München. This is the 4 rivet, heavy version, from this firm. The Heavy German Crosses are amongst the most sought out by collectors for their solid feel and excellent construction. This cross weights in at a hefty 67 grams. The delicate enamel swastika is completely intact and has two very small surface chip at 3 and 9 o’clock on the swastika. The white disc behind the swastika has patina’d with age (these white discs are prone to accumulating dirt and darken easily). The gold wreath retains much of its fire-gilded gold and burnished highlights. The starburst retains most of its darkened finish. The reverse hardware is completely intact and feature a hinge and catch soldered directly to the brass backplate of the cross. Makers mark ‘1’ for Deschler is stamped on the pin. All the original brass rivets are secure and untouched. This German Cross in Gold is in excellent condition.
Historical Description: The German Cross in Gold was instituted on September 28th, 1941. The German High Command saw it necessary to create an award which would bridge the gap between the Iron Cross First Class and the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. Once instituted, the German Cross became Germany’s second highest military decoration, second only to the Knights Cross and its subsequent grades. The German Cross was similar to the Knights Cross in regards that the award was not based off of any previous awards in German history. It was a unique creation which also ended with the war. There were approximately 26,000 recipients of the German Cross in Gold. This number, however, does not reflect the total amount of German Crosses produced.
The German Cross was actually not a cross at all. It took on the form of an eight-pointed star, resembling some of the former breast awards of the Imperial era. The award came in two forms, a metal version and a cloth version. The metal version being the most complex of the two, it consisted of five separate pieces being fitted and held together using four to twelve rivets depending on who the manufacturer was. The cloth version follows the exact same design as the metal produced version except the entire cross is cloth with the exception of the laurel wreath still being metal.
Known Manufacturers: Deschler & Sohn, Munchen,;C.E. Juncker, Berlin; C.F. Zimmermann, Pforzheim; Gebruder Godet, Berlin; Otto Klein, Hanau
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