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Condition: Excellent
Maker: Hermann Schumuck & Cie
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Product Description: This is a nice example of a cloth German Cross in Gold. It appears to be an unissued piece, with no sign of ever having been affixed to a uniform. The brass alloy wreath shows little or no wear, with great original finish, and shows the expected flaw in the date. The embroidery on the swastika and starburst is virtually perfect, and the white backing cloth for the swastika emblem shows only light age toning. The wool backing is the typical field gray color as worn by most Army and SS unit types. One corner of the starburst has been slightly clipped, and there is also what looks like a tiny moth nip on one edge. The reverse of this cloth German Cross in Gold has a textbook black backing paper, with a manufacturer stamp in white ink. The stamp is a stylized “HS” indicating manufacture by the firm of Hermann Schumuck & Cie. The paper backing shows light age, with some small tears and losses. Overall, this desirable, maker marked 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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