War Merit Cross, Knights Cross Silver
without Swords.
Instituted on 19 August 1940
Rarity – Extremely RareKnown Makers - 1, L/13
Ribbed Suspender.
Plain Suspender.
This award takes the basic design
of the War Merit Cross Second Class but is larger, measuring 54 mm across the
arms and the oak leaf wreath measures 18 mm.
The widths of the arms of the cross are 3 mm. It was usually produced in genuine silver,
with the silver grade ranging from .800 through to .950 but in some examples
the cross is but silver-plated and these examples just have the maker's number
on the lower arm. The upper arm has an
inverted V attached to it, with three lines on each arm and with an eyelet at
its apex. It is very important at this
point to expel a theory that has been in existence for some time that this
version came with only a plain hanger.
It is, in fact, found with both ribbed and plain varieties, not only
that, they are not all as long as one another.
Also, in the case of the plain type the inverted 'V' is also plain to
match the hanger. Through this eyelet is
a ribbed hanger which supports the cross on the neck ribbon. As with all Knights Crosses it was worn
around the neck. The ribbon comprises of
a 46 mm band formed from stripes of 4 mm red, 4 mm white, 22 mm broad black, 4
mm white and 4 mm red. For the examples
of the cross that were awarded, the ends of the ribbon were turned over into a
triangle with a length of minute ribbon at each end to act as ties to secure
the ribbon around the neck of the recipient.
This is a new and very interesting point. If one had a short neck, one required a
shorter hanger for comfort. If one had a
number of neck decorations, General Otto Stapf for example had both the Knights
Cross of the Iron Cross and the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with
Swords, the hangers had to be adjusted for the comfort of the wearer, for there
was no undress version for wear for either of these orders. This was also the case of the earlier Pour le
Mérite, which a number of staff officers had won in the first world war and had
to wear with their second world war counterparts.
Criteria for the Award were;
It was a prerequisite for a
recipient to already hold the War Merit Cross First and Second Class. Recommendation had to be forwarded through
the OKW or state minister to the Reichschancellery where it was personally
approved by Hitler.
On 19 August 1940 this cross was
introduced to reward the high achievements of the civilian population, civil
service and political formations, to encompass military personnel and was for
outstanding service in the furtherance of the war effort but not directly
connected to combat. Great ceremony was
employed with the award of the Knights Cross decorations and the recipient was
usually accompanied at the ceremony by a Knights Cross winner. The Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross
ranked above the German Cross in Silver but below the Knights Cross of the Iron
Cross. Only 48 awards were rendered of
this decoration, which made it very prestigious in the eyes of the Nazi
hierarchy. Hitler in fact, circulated a
letter from his headquarters on 27 August 1943, outlining the criteria for
award and the philosophy surrounding it and directed that 'prominent party
comrades' were not to be honoured with this decoration. A definite jibe at Reichsmarschall Hermann
Göring who had coveted the award of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross
with Swords. David Littlejohn premises
that this statement, 'prominent party comrades not to be honoured with this
decoration', was made because Hitler had The German Order in mind for the 'top
brass' of the party. We know from Albert
Speer that Hitler wanted to reward Himmler with something but could not make up
his mind just what. Speer threw out
hints that he himself would not be unappreciative of a decoration! He thinks Hitler intended to see just what
each of the top people had contributed to victory, once Hitler had won the war
and then starts giving out the German Order in various grades. The dead had already made their contribution,
which is why, Littlejohn suggests, it was mainly dead party comrades who
received the rare Order, thus the recommendations for the awards proposed for
Gauleiter Koch and Stadtsminister Backe were refused or, more politely,
withdrawn. In one case the cross was
awarded in both forms to Reichsverkehrsminister Julius Dortmüller, who received
it on 19 September 1943 and was awarded the cross with swords on 24 July
1944. Conjoined with the award was often
a secondary prize as was the case with Dr. Theo Morell who held the post as Hitler's
personal physician. He received
Germany's only electron microscope in conjunction with his award.
It has been believed that 118
awards of the cross without swords were rendered. However, the actual number is 48, as shown by
the list of recipients. Not only that
but not all the recipients have been officially recognised in the form of
gazetting. This non public announcing
was to ensure the anonymity of the recipient and the work in which he was
involved. This was also common in the
awarding of British decorations, thus other awards may come to light.
It was presented in a blue box,
with an inside black velvet base, which has a round recess into which the cross
and hanger fit. The upper part of the
box above this recess is indented to accommodate the neck ribbon.
Preliminary Document. MORELL, Theodor - 24 February 1944 .
MORELL, Theodor - 24 February 1944 being awarded the Preliminary Document.
War Merit Cross, Knights Cross Silver
without Swords Recipients;
HAHNE, Franz - 20 May 1942
THOMSEN, Hans - 25 May 1942
DAVIDSHÖFER, Christian - 5 June
1943
HOLTMAYER, Johannes - 5 June 1943
KRAUCH, Carl - 5 June 1943
ROHLAND, Walter - 5 June 1943
SAUR, Karl Otto - 5 June 1943
SAWATZKI, Albin - 5 June 1943
WERNER, William - 5 June 1943
RAHN, Rudolf - 22 June 1943
DORPMÜLLER, Julius - 19 September
1943
DEGENKOLB, Gerhard - 20 September
1943
PIER, Mattias - 20 September 1943
SCHIEBER, Walter - 20 September 1943
ZSCHIRNT, Kurt - 3 October 1943
SAUERBRUCH, Ferdinand-Ernst -
WOLF, Ludwig - 21 October 1943
GRIMM, Fritz-Wilhelm - 7 December
1943
AMBROS, Otto - 1944
BÜTEFISCH, Heinrich - 1944
RICKHEY, Georg Johannes - 1944
WURSTER, Karl - 1944
MORELL, Theodor - 24 February
1944
DOHRN, Hermann - 10 August 1944
HASSENPFLUG, Werner - 12 August
1944
HILDEBRANDT, Hubert - 12 August
1944
PEUCKERT, Rudi Werner - 12 August
1944
TIMM, Max - 12 August 1944
DILLI, Gustav - 14 August 1944
HAYLER, Franz - 16 August 1944
ARPS, Willi - 24 August 1944
ESAU, Abraham - 22 September 1944
KOHNERT, Hans-Joachim - 30
September 1944
BEHRENS, Gustav - 1 October 1944
BLOEDORN, Wilhelm - 1 October
1944
HECHT, Kurt - 1 October 1944
HUBER, Reinhold - 1 October 1944
PFLAUMBAUM, Walter - 1 October
1944
GANZER, Karl-Richard - 15
September 1944
ZSCHIRNT, Kurt - 3 October 1944
(accredited with the award twice)
LINNEMEYER, Werner - 12 October
1944
LIPPISCH, Alexander - 12 October
1944
MESSERSCHMITT, Willy - 12 October
1944
ECKHARDT, Alfred - 7 December
1944
BERTRAM, Richard Wolfgang Paul -
26 December 1944
DARGEL, Paul - 15 January 1945
SCHELP, Fritz - 20 February 1945
BOHRMANN, Otto - 21 February 1945
