List of Knight's Cross recipients 7th SS Volunteer Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Awarded by Nazi Germany
Type Neck order
Eligibility Military personnel
Awarded for Awarded to holders of the Iron Cross to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership
Campaign World War II
Status Obsolete
Statistics
Established 1 September 1939
First awarded 30 September 1939
Last awarded 11 May 1945 / 17 June 1945[a]
Precedence
Next (higher) Grand Cross of the Iron Cross
Next (lower) Iron Cross 1st Class

Insignia of 7th SS Volunteer Grbirgs Division Prinz Eugen

The 7th SS Volunteer Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen was a German volunteer Waffen-SS Mountain division. It saw action in the Balkans against Tito's Partisan Army and against the advancing Red Army. The division was named after the famous Austrian general Prince Eugene of Savoy who fought the Turks at Vienna, conquered Belgrade and expelled them from Hungary.

The Prinz Eugen was formed from Volksdeutsche personnel from Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and Romania. Its initial composition was of an all-volunteer force until conscription began later in the war. It surrendered on 11 May 1945 to Bulgarian forces.[1]

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 [2] of September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 [3] of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 [4] of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 [5] of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

Prerequisites

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases. Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.

Grades

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross:

Knight's Cross with Swords

Knight’s Cross

HQ staff

SS Gebirgsjäger Regiment 1

SS Gebirgsjäger Regiment 2

SS Gebirgsjäger Regiment 14

SS Gebirgs Reconnaissance Battalion 7

SS Sturmgeschütz Battalion 1007

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ↑ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 1573; 1 September 1939
  3. ↑ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 849; 3 June 1940
  4. ↑ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 613; 28 September 1941
  5. ↑ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11; 29 December 1944
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "axishistory".

References