The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

 respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords.

The German Cross was issued in two divisions: gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 and silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 (the color of the laurel wreath around the swastika), the former being an award for repeated acts of bravery or repeated outstanding achievements in combat, the latter being for multiple distinguished services in war efforts and was considered a continuation of the War Merit Cross

War Merit Cross

The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...

 with swords. The German Cross was unique in that the Gold and Silver divisions were considered as separate awards but should not be worn simultaneously. However, pictures of recipients wearing both grades exist (see Odilo Globocnik

Odilo Globocnik

Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazi and later an SS leader. He was an acquaintance of Adolf Eichmann, who played a major role in the extermination of Jews and others during the Holocaust...

 and Dr. Paul Meixner). There are a total of 14 recorded instances of a German recipient receiving both the German Cross in Silver (GCiS) and Gold (GCiG) during the war. These are:

• Major General Robert Bader GCiG 18.03.1945 & GCiS 14.02.1943,

• Lieutnant Colonel Jürgen Bennecke GCiG 30.01.1945 & GCiS 15.02.1943,

• Major General Wolfgang Bucher GCiG 23.02.1944 & GCiS 14.02.1943,

• Colonel Hans Hecker GCiG 19.02.1942 & GCiS 19.02.1942,

• SS-Gruppenführer

Gruppenführer

Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...

 and Lieutnant General of the Police Odilio L. Glo-bocnik GCiG 07.02.1945 & GCiS 20.01.1945,

• Major Franz Kaiser GCiG 01.0311945 & GCiS 08.07.1943,

• Rear Admiral Dr. Paul H. Meixner GCiG 11.02.1943 & GCiS 06.06.1942,

• Major General Ernst Merk GCiG 11.02.1944 & GCiS 06.06.1942,

• Lieutnant Colonel Helmut Moeller-Althaus GCiG 15.12.1943 & GCiS 30.05.1942,

• SS-Standartenführer

Standartenführer

Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...

 and Colonel of the Police Walther Rauff GCiG 07.02.1945 & GCiS 20.05.1943,

• General Felix Schwalbe

Felix Schwalbe

Eugen-Felix Schwalbe was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

 GCiG 07.12.1944 & GCiS 30.10.1943,

• Lieutnant General Alfred Thielmann GCiG 08.11.1944 & GCiS 03.12.1942,

• Rear Admiral Paul W. Zieb GCiG 28.09.1944 & GCiS 18.05.1944 and

• Lieutnant General Bodo Zimmermann

Bodo Zimmermann

Bodo Zimmermann was a German general during the Second World War. He also was one of the few recipients of both German crosses .-Biography:...

 GCiG 25.09.1944 & GCiS 15.02.1943.

The following 22 foreign soldiers from the allied armed forces got the German Cross in Gold awarded:

• Croatia: Lieutnant Cvitan Galić, 1st Lieutnant Mato Dukovac,

• Finland: General Axel Erik Heinrichs 17.08.1943, Lieutnant General Jarl Fritjof Lundquist 09.11.1943, Lieutnant General Väinö Valve 03.05.1944, Lieutnant General Taavetti
Laatikainen 05.08.1944, Lieutnant General Karl Lennart Oesch 05.08.1944,

• Italia: Vice Admiral Luigi Sansonetti18.01.1942, Marshal Ettore Bastico

Ettore Bastico

Ettore Bastico was an Italian military officer before and during World War II. He held high commands during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War , the Spanish Civil War, and the North African Campaign....

 05.12.1942, General Enea Navarini 21.12.1942, Admiral Arturo Riccardi 18.01.1943, Colonel General
Rino Corso Fougier

Rino Corso Fougier

Rino Corso Fougier was a Royal Italian Air Force general. From 1940 to 1941 he served as the commander of the Corpo Aereo Italiano which, in concert with the Luftwaffe, took part in the Battle of Britain. From 1941 to 1943 he commanded the Royal Italian Air Force.-External links:*...

 18.01.1943, Colonel Mario Carloni 28.03.1943,

• Romania: General Gheorghe Avramescu 25.10.1942, Major General Leonard Mociulschi 25.10.1942, Major General Ermil Gheorghiu 11.02.1943, Captain Nicolae Dabija 10.02.1944), • Slovakia: Sergeant Izidor Kovarík 17.10.1943, Sergeant Ján Režňák 17.10.1943 and

• Spain: Major don Angel Salas Larrazabal 09.02.1942, Major General Emilio Estéban Infantes y Martín 09.04.1943, Colonel Antonio Garcia Navarro 23.03.1944.

And some 26 non German volunteers of the Waffen-SS from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungaria, Latvia, Netherlands and Norway received the German Cross in Gold.

Specimen copies of a special grade, the German Cross in Gold with Diamonds, was manufactured in 1942 but this grade was never instituted and bestowed.

The order consists of a star badge, containing a swastika (in German, Hakenkreuz, "hooked cross", which gives the award its name, the "German cross"). It had a diameter of 6.5 cm and was worn on the righthand pocket of the tunic. If a recipient was awarded both the silver and gold divisions, both of them could not be worn on the uniform

Uniform

A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

.
Only the golden division of the award was officially also available in cloth form, which was made for easier wear on the combat uniform; General Helmuth Weidling

Helmuth Weidling

Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling was an officer in the German Army before and during World War II...

 wore this variety during his defense of Berlin in April–May 1945. Far more awards in gold (combat) were presented than in silver (support).

The cross title refers to the fact that the swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

 is a cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

, a sun-cross.

In 1957 alternative 'de-nazified' replacement versions of the German Cross were authorised for wear by the Federal Republic of Germany. This replaced the swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

 with a representation of the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 for the gold division, and the War Merit Cross

War Merit Cross

The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...

 with Swords for the silver division. Wear of Nazi era decorations has been banned in Germany after the war, as is any display of the swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

. Veterans who had earned the German Cross during the Third Reich were therefore unable to wear it before this change. The wearing of Nazi era decorations in any form continued to be banned in the German Democratic Republic

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

.