Prinzen Size Iron Cross 2nd Class Spange

Product Description: This Prinzen Size Iron Cross 2nd Class Spange is an outstanding piece. These smaller, “Prinzen” size awards are rare to find, much more scarce than their full-size counterparts. This one is a high quality example. It’s made of a brass alloy (Tombak), a material associated with early award production. This Spange retains all of the original factory applied silver finish. It’s nicely detailed, and there is no evident wear. The silver still shines nicely. This variant of Spange is attributed to the firm of Wilhelm Deumer in Lüdenscheid, and features two vertical prongs. This lovely Iron Cross 2nd Class Spange is affixed to a length of original, correct 1914 black and white Iron Cross ribbon. The ribbon is crisp and pristine. The Spange shows no damage or repairs, and displays exceptionally well. The condition of this piece rates as near mint.

Historical Description: When Adolf Hitler reinstituted the historical Iron Cross decoration on September 1, 1939, he also instituted a special new award, the “Wiederholungsspange,” to recognize people who had earned the 1914 Iron Cross during WWI and whose actions in this new war merited being awarded the Iron Cross again. There were two different patterns of this Spange, for the First and Second Classes of the Iron Cross. Both of them took the form of a German national eagle and swastika emblem, with outstretched wings, over a bar with the date “1939.” The First-Class award had a pin attachment or screw back, to enable it to be worn on the uniform pocket over the 1914 Iron Cross. Some combo-type awards are also known, with the Spange fastened to the top arm of the 1914 cross. The Second Class Spange had two or four prongs on the reverse and was affixed to a length of 1914 pattern Iron Cross ribbon. Most of the Spange awards were made of a brass alloy (Buntmetall) with a silver finish, while late war examples were produced from zinc. As with most German combat awards, there were many variations of the Spange produced, including miniature awards for the ribbon bar.

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