.
The first awards began in the 1920s, before the Nazis had come to power in Germany
, with the political decorations worn on early Party uniforms. Most early Nazis also displayed awards they may have earned as soldiers and sailors during the First World War or before.
After 1933, the state began issuing a variety of civilian decorations which could be bestowed upon any citizen of the Reich. Thus, some awards (such as Sports Badges) were bestowed on Nazi Party members, members of the German military, and regular civilians. Many standard awards of the German state, such as military and civil service long service decorations and life-saving medals, were redesigned to incorporate the Nazi symbol, the swastika.
Third Reich military awards are by far the most commonly recognised. Military long service decorations, awards for participants in the Spanish Civil War
and medals for the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland
were among early awards, but the greatest number began to be bestowed in 1939 after the start of World War II
. Regulations of award issuance also permitted the simultaneous wear of military, civilian, and political decorations on any military or para-military uniform of the Third Reich, allowing for a wide variety of combinations in manner of wear and awards displayed.
Nazi awards and decorations were discontinued after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. After the end of World War II, new German military awards were created under the authority of the West German military
and the East German communist regime
.
Orders
| Badge And Ribbon | Name (English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... /German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... ) |
Creation Date – Cessation Date | Description | Number Awarded |
 |
Order Of The Star Of The Grand Cross Of The Iron Cross./Stern zum Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. |
1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 | Intended to be awarded to the most successful German General/Field Marshal of the Second World War, once Greater Germany had achieved victory. | 0 |
Order Of The Grand Cross Of The Iron Cross./Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. |
1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded to victorious Generals/Field Marshals of German forces and her allies. Hermann Göring Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"... was the only recipient of this award during the second world war after his part in the victory over Poland, France, Denmark, Norway and the BeNeLux nations. He was awarded this award on 19 July 1940. |
1 | |
 |
Order Of The Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross With Golden Oak Leaves, Swords And Diamonds./Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten. |
29 December 1944 – 8 May 1945 | To be awarded after the second world war to Greater Germany's 12 greatest war heroes. Adolf Hitler prematurely awarded Hans-Ulrich Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II and a member of the Nazi party. The most highly decorated German serviceman of the war, Rudel was one of only 27 military men to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, and the only... with the golden oak leaves for continuous outstanding achievements and heroism. Then and to this day Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the greatest scoring ground-attack pilot in history. |
1 |
 |
Order Of The Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross With Oak Leaves, Swords And Diamonds./Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten. |
28 September 1941 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops after being awarded all preceding classes of the Knight's Cross/Iron Cross. | 27 (1 Spaniards) |
 |
Order Of The Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross With Oak Leaves And Swords./Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. |
28 September 1941 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops after being awarded all preceding classes of the Knight's Cross/Iron Cross. | 160 (157 German, 1 Japanese, 2 Spaniards) |
 |
Order Of The Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross With Oak Leaves./Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub. |
3 June 1940 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops after being awarded all preceding classes of the Knight's Cross/Iron Cross. | 890 (882 German, 8 Axis Allies) |
 |
Order Of The Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross./Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. |
1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops after being awarded all preceding classes of the Iron Cross. | 7,318 |
 |
Order Of The Iron Cross (1st Class)/Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse |
1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops after being awarded the preceding class of the Iron Cross. | c730,000 |
 |
Order Of The Iron Cross (2nd Class)/Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse |
1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops. | c4,750,000 |
 |
Order Of The German Cross (Gold Class With Diamonds)/Kriegsorden des Deutschen Kreuzes in Gold mit Brillanten) |
October 1942 – 8 May 1945 | To be awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops (Having already being awarded the German Cross (Gold Class)) but no awards were ever made. | 0 |
 |
Order Of The German Cross (Gold Class)/Kriegsorden des Deutschen Kreuzes in Gold |
28 September 1941 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for continuous bravery before the enemy or excellence in commanding troops (Not justifying the Knight’s Cross Of The Iron Cross but having already being awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class) | 24,204 (24,190 German, 14 Axis Allies) |
 |
Order Of The German Cross (Silver Class)/Kriegsorden des Deutschen Kreuzes in Silber |
28 September 1941 – 8 May 1945 | Awarded for significant performances in aiding/supplying the military war effort. (Not justifying the Knight’s Cross Of The Iron Cross but having already being awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class) | 1,115 |
Third Reich awards
The following articles deal with each section of Third Reich awards:- List of military decorations of the Third Reich
- List of civil decorations of Nazi Germany
- Political decorations of the Nazi PartyPolitical decorations of the Nazi PartyPolitical decorations of the Nazi Party were medals and awards issued by the National Socialist German Workers Party between1920 and 1945. Political awards were authorized for wear on any paramilitary uniform of Nazi Germany, as well as civilian attire, but were generally frowned upon for display ...
- Unbestowed awards of Nazi GermanyUnbestowed awards of Nazi GermanyUnbestowed awards of Nazi Germany were a series of political, civil, and military decorations which were either under design, projected for design, or had been approved for issuance but never bestowed, when the Second World War ended in 1945 resulting in the fall of Nazi Germany.-Senior Military &...
Pre-Third Reich awards
Orders, decorations and medals earned by Germans before the Nazi assumption of power continued to be worn and were incorporated into the prescribed orders of precedence and uniform regulations for the German armed forces and civil organisations in the Third Reich. These included awards of Imperial Germany and its members states (Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc.), awards of the Weimar Republic and awards of Austro-Hungary (after the 1938 annexation, Austrian awards were treated as another class of state award like Prussian and Bavarian).German decorations of the First World War were by far the most numerous of pre-Third Reich decorations displayed on Nazi uniforms. Prior to Hitler assuming power, when the Nazi Party was simply a paramilitary
political party, Nazi uniforms also displayed several awards of the Freikorps
. Awards of the German Freikorps were prohibited from wear after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, with any veteran who had received one then eligible for the Cross of Honor
of World War I. In all, nearly eight million persons applied for, and received, the Cross of Honor in lieu of a former unofficial veteran or Freikorps medal.