Order of the German Eagle
Encyclopedia
The Order of the German Eagle was an award of the German Nazi regime, predominantly to foreign diplomats. The Order was instituted on 1 May 1937 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...

.
It ceased to be awarded following the collapse of the Nazi Government at the end of World War II.

Criteria

The Order of the German Eagle was a diplomatic and honorary award given to prominent foreigners, particularly diplomats, who were considered sympathetic to Nazism. At least two Germans were also awarded the Order, Constantin von Neurath who received a Special Degree of the Order of the German Eagle on 20 April 1939, and Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...

 on being appointed Foreign Minister.

Appearance and classes

The Cross is based on the Maltese Cross
Maltese cross
The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...

 with German Eagles at each corner carrying a 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...

. For military recipients the Order also featured crossed swords. The cross was suspended from a 46 mm red ribbon with stripes in black, red and white. The appearance and name of the Order was an imitation of the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle
Order of the Black Eagle
The Order of the Black Eagle was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg . In his Dutch exile after WWI, deposed Emperor Wilhelm II continued to award the order to his family...

 and Order of the Red Eagle
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements...

.

From 1937 to 1943 the order was presented in six classes:
  1. Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle (Grosskreuz des Deutschen Adlerordens)
  2. Order of the German Eagle with Star (Deutscher Adlerorden mit Stern)
  3. Order of the German Eagle 1st Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Erste Stufe)
  4. Order of the German Eagle 2nd Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Zweite Stufe)
  5. Order of the German Eagle 3rd Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Dritte Stufe)
  6. German Medal of Merit (Deutsche Verdienstmedaille)


A unique Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle in Gold with Diamonds (Grosskreuz des Deutschen Adlerordens in Gold und Brillanten) was also awarded to Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 on 25 September 1937.

On 27 December 1943 the Order was reorganised into nine classes:
  1. Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle in Gold (Goldenes Grosskreuz des Deutschen Adlerordens)
  2. Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle (Grosskreuz des Deutschen Adlerordens)
  3. Order of the German Eagle 1st Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Erste Stufe)
  4. Order of the German Eagle 2nd Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Zweite Stufe)
  5. Order of the German Eagle 3rd Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Dritte Stufe)
  6. Order of the German Eagle 4th Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Vierte Stufe)
  7. Order of the German Eagle 5th Class (Deutscher Adlerorden, Fünfte Stufe)
  8. Silver Medal of Merit (Silberne Verdienstmedaille)
  9. Bronze Medal of Merit (Bronzene Verdienstmedaille)

Recipients

Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle in Gold with Diamonds
  • Benito Mussolini
    Benito Mussolini
    Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....



Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle in Gold

The Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle in Gold was awarded fourteen times:
  • Ion Antonescu
    Ion Antonescu
    Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...

    , Chief-of-staff of the Romanian army
  • King Boris III
    Boris III of Bulgaria
    Boris III the Unifier, Tsar of Bulgaria , originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver , son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I...

     of Bulgaria
    Bulgaria
    Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

  • Galeazzo Ciano Conte di Cortelazzo
    Galeazzo Ciano
    Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was an Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. In early 1944 Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law, Mussolini under pressure from Nazi Germany.-Early life:Ciano was born in...

    , Italy
  • Francisco Franco
    Francisco Franco
    Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

    , Spanish politician and general
  • Dr. Wilhelm Frick
    Wilhelm Frick
    Wilhelm Frick was a prominent German Nazi official serving as Minister of the Interior of the Third Reich. After the end of World War II, he was tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed...

    , Reichsminister
  • Heinrich Himmler
    Heinrich Himmler
    Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

    , Reichsführer
  • Admiral Miklós Horthy
    Miklós Horthy
    Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...

    , Hungary
  • Field Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish armed forces
  • General Hiroshi Ōshima
    Hiroshi Ōshima
    Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany before and during World War II — and unknowingly a major source of communications intelligence for the Allies. His role was perhaps best summed up by General George C...

    , Japanese ambassador
  • Risto Ryti
    Risto Ryti
    Risto Heikki Ryti was the fifth President of Finland, from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the...

    , President of Finland
  • Constantin Freiherr von Neurath, Reich Foreign Minister
  • Joachim von Ribbentrop
    Joachim von Ribbentrop
    Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...

    , Reich Foreign Minister
  • Jozef Tiso
    Jozef Tiso
    Jozef Tiso was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, politician of the Slovak People's Party, and Nazi collaborator. Between 1939 and 1945, Tiso was the head of the Slovak State, a satellite state of Nazi Germany...

    , Slovak president 1939-1945 awarded twice: for war with Poland 1939 and for invading into the USSR 1942
  • Alessandro Pirzio Biroli, Italian general


Other classes

Number awarded unknown.
  • Emil Kirdof, director of the Gelsenkirchen
    Gelsenkirchen
    Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....

     industrial consortium (awarded by Hitler on 8 April 1937).
  • Thomas J. Watson
    Thomas J. Watson
    Thomas John Watson, Sr. was president of International Business Machines , who oversaw that company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956...

    , chairman of IBM, 1937. Watson was also president of the International Chamber of Commerce
    International Chamber of Commerce
    The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise....

     in 1937; the medal was awarded while the ICC was meeting in Germany that year.
  • Henry Ford
    Henry Ford
    Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

     was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle on his 75th birthday, 30 July 1938.
  • General Olof Thörnell
    Olof Thörnell
    Olof Gerhard Thörnell was a General of the Swedish armed forces. He was Sweden's first Supreme Commander 1939-1944. Before 1939 that had been the role of the King....

    , Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle 7 October 1940.
  • Charles Lindbergh
    Charles Lindbergh
    Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

     was awarded the Order of the German Eagle with Star 19 October 1938.
  • James Mooney, General Motors' chief executive for overseas operations, was awarded Order of the German Eagle 1st Class.
  • Ing. Ugo Conte (1884–1951), Rome Chief Engineer, was awarded Order of German Eagle 2nd Class on 16 December 1938 for leading team in the construction of first German motorway.
  • Swedish explorer Sven Hedin
    Sven Hedin
    Sven Anders Hedin KNO1kl RVO was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, and travel writer, as well as an illustrator of his own works...

     was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle on his 75th birthday on 19 February 1940.
  • Finnish Minister of Defence Rudolf Walden
    Rudolf Walden
    Karl Rudolf Walden was a Finnish industrialist and general.He received his military education in Hamina Cadet School 1892–1900....

     was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle.
  • Finnish leader of the Lotta Svärd
    Lotta Svärd
    Lotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. During the Finnish Civil War it was associated with the Suojeluskunta. After the war Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organisation on September 9, 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg...

     organization Fanni Luukkonen
    Fanni Luukkonen
    Fanni Luukkonen was the longtime leader of the Finnish Lotta Svärd, a voluntary auxiliary organisation for women....

    was awarded the Order of the German Eagle with Star on May 19, 1943. She was the only non-German woman to receive the medal.
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