1939 Iron Cross 1st Class by Gebr. Godet (L/50)
Price: $395
BUY / RESERVE THIS ITEMDescription: 1939 pattern, die struck cross with a single piece iron core and two piece alloy frame. The obverse of the award features an embossed, central, canted, swastika with re-institution date, “1939”, to the bottom arm. The swastika is in nice high relief. The plain reverse of the award has a solid, soldered hinge, and polished straight wide vertical pin that opens close to 90 and not 180 degrees as is typical of these Godet pieces; the marker’s stamp L/50 for ‘Gebr. Godet, Berlin’ is directly below the pin catch. Cross has an ever so slight vault & a very nice patina, having never been cleaned. Godet EK1s are uncommon.
Background: There is no more iconic German military award than the Iron Cross. The long history of this order began during the Napoleonic Wars. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia instituted the “Eisernes Kreuz” (Iron Cross) in March of 1813. The award criteria changed somewhat with time, but generally speaking, Iron Crosses could be awarded for individual acts of bravery, or for leadership achievements on the battlefield. The design was created by Karl Friedrich Schinkel; his choice of the black cross with silver outline was derived from the heraldic emblem of the Teutonic Knights. There were a number of different types and grades of Iron Cross awards throughout its long history, but the basic details of the most widely awarded grades: The Iron Cross 1st Class and Iron Cross 2nd Class- remained the same. The first class award was a breast badge, with fittings on the reverse to allow it to be worn on the uniform. These fittings varied widely over time and from maker to maker, and could be a simple in and catch, a screw post and retaining disc, or more elaborate setups. The second class award was suspended from a ribbon, originally in the Prussian colors of black and white, later in the Reich colors of black, red and white. The final reinstitution of the cross came in 1939. For this version, the front of the core for both grades bore a swastika and the date 1939. The oak leaves, crown and royal initials were removed from the reverse, with only the date 1813 remaining as a reminder of the legacy of this award. In WWII, hundreds of thousands of Iron Cross First Class awards were bestowed, and four and a half million Iron Cross Second Class awards. Iron Crosses were made by a large number of authorized manufacturers Some variants of these awards were mass produced in huge numbers. Others were made in very limited quantities.
