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Deutsches Kreuz in Gold

The German Cross (Deutschen Kreuz) is build up out of 5 separate parts and although the name suggests otherwise, it has the shape of a large 8-pointed breast star with in the center a large black swastika which is outlined in silver. The name of this award comes from this 21,5 mm big swastika. This swastika is placed upon a red-bordered silver disk and upon this red border is a golden laurel leaf wreath mounted. The golden wreath measures 39 mm across and is made out of single laurel leaves that are bounded together with a silk lint. At the bottom of the wreath is a square box with the year 1941 impressed into it. This date refers to the year of institution and from underneath this wreath emerge the eight star points. These points are chemically blackened and have the appearance of sunrays. Underneath these points is a 63 mm large silver backing plate placed which has the same shape as the award, only it’s slightly bigger so it forms the outer line of the award. At the reverse are 4 or 6 rivets visible and through the number of rivets you can recognize if the award was made in Germany or Austria. The German Crosses with 4 rivets were made in Germany and the pieces with 6 rivets in Austria. Further is there at the reverse a large width pin with a standard hook construction placed. If the award is marked with the LDO-number of the producer, then it is stamped in either the front or backside of the pin. To prevent damaging the award during combat, there was also a cloth version made. This cloth version has a metal wreath and the backing cloth colour is the same as the tunic colour of the corresponding Army branch. Fieldgrey is for the Army (Heer) and Waffen-SS, bleu-grey for the Air Force, (Luftwaffe) Marine bleu for the Navy (Kriegsmarine) and black for the Armored forces.

The German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) was awarded for bravery and outstanding achievements in combat but where the Knight’s Cross wasn’t awarded for. The recipient did however already had to own the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz 1 Klasse) or Kriegsverdienstkreuz 1.Klasse with swords. The exact number of times that the German Cross in Gold was bestowed is still unknow at this time.

The OKW barred/stopped by decree the awarding of the Gernan Cross in Gold for "multiple remarkable services in troop leadership" from March 10th, 1945 on.

Bidermann, Gottlob-Herbert* August 28th, 1920
† September 1st, 2010

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Grid List
Obenhaupt, Heinz* October 4th, 1917

Oberbeck, Herbert* October 11th, 1909

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Oberbracht, Friedrich-Karl (s.Pz.Abt. 501)* December 19th, 1920
† January 13th, 1945

Oberdieck, Helmut* June 28th, 1918

Obergaulinger, Ludwig* November 7th, 1911

Obergethmann, Eduard* April 30th, 1898
† April 13th, 1943

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Oberländer, Werner* December 16th, 1912
† October 12th, 1996

Obermaier, Albrecht (3. Schnellbootsflottille)* July 9th, 1912
† August 1st, 2004

Obermaier, Johann ("U 435")* August 10th, 1919
† July 9th, 1943

Obermeier, Georg* November 2nd, 1917

Obermeier, Josef* November 7th, 1912
† March 16th, 1945

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Obermeier, Ludwig* November 24th, 1914

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Obermeit, Heinz* January 15th, 1912
† February 15th, 1980

Obermüller, Franz* September 13th, 1918
† July 29th, 1943

Obernberger, Franz (Nacht-Schlacht-Gruppe 1)* January 13th, 1914
† August 5th, 1944

Obernitz, von, Justin* December 30th, 1884
† September 24th, 1955

Oberquelle, Erich* December 14th, 1918

Oberweg, Herbert* September 20th, 1911
† April 6th, 1945

Obleser, Friedrich* February 21st, 1923
† June 5th, 2004

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Obrecht, Herbert* April 19th, 1922

Obstfelder, von, Hans* September 6th, 1886
† December 20th, 1976

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Ochsner, Wilhelm-Francis "Willifrank"* March 31st, 1899
† December 5th, 1990

Ochßner, Heinrich Wilhelm* May 28th, 1912
† September 16th, 1944
Plot: 3 Row: 16 Grave: 235

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Ocken, Fritz* June 25th, 1909
† January 4th, 1988

Odebrecht, Job* February 20th, 1892
† November 20th, 1982

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Odenhardt, Wilhelm* January 26th, 1914
† April 12th, 1992

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Odrozek, Theodor* March 26th, 1914
† December 26th, 1980

Oehler, Dietrich* October 4th, 1915
† December 27th, 2005

Oehler, Walther* January 3rd, 1888
† July 6th, 1968

Oehmichen, Dr., Hermann* November 16th, 1899
† April 29th, 1987

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Oehmichen, von, Hans-Joachim (Kradschützen-Btl.54)* October 4th, 1920
† July 11th, 1995

Oekenpöhler, Johann-Peter* September 1st, 1917
† August 14th, 1980

Oelrich, Adolf* March 15th, 1916

Oertel, Hans* June 19th, 1894
† September 15th, 1957

Oertzen, von, Arthur* June 24th, 1904

Oesau, Walter* June 28th, 1913
† May 11th, 1944

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Oesch, Karl Lennart* August 8th, 1892
† March 28th, 1978

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Oesterlin, Albert* January 14th, 1903
† January 23rd, 1944

Oesterwitz, Karl-Heinz* March 15th, 1914
† June 13th, 1999

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Oestmann, Jürgen* March 4th, 1915

Oettingen, von, Peter Otto Krafft* September 8th, 1909
† May 12th, 1944

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Oettingen-Wallerstein, Prinz zu, Moritz* February 18th, 1922
† May 3rd, 1944

Offenborn, Gustav (Kampf-Geschwader 3)* December 14th, 1917
† April 16th, 1942
Grave: UNK

Offermann, Hans-Werner* July 2nd, 1921
† April 22nd, 1945

Offermann, Helmut* September 21st, 1913
† March 11th, 2006

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Offermanns, Wilhelm 'Willi' (Waffen SS)* February 28th, 1917
† April 5th, 1942
Grave: UNK

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Ohlerich, Ludwig* December 9th, 1909

Ohlrogge, Walter* January 15th, 1909
† April 30th, 2003

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Ohlsen, Otto* December 18th, 1916

Ohm, Joachim* November 26th, 1920

Ohning, Helmut* October 26th, 1919
† April 27th, 1944

Olboeter, Erich Fritz Hermann (Waffen SS)* June 26th, 1917
† September 2nd, 1944

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Olbricht, Karl* January 20th, 1917
† April 26th, 1944

Olf, Alfred* April 8th, 1919

Olin, Ulf-Ola* July 18th, 1917
† January 11th, 1995

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Olowinsky, Franz* July 15th, 1914

Olshausen, Kai-Hermann* March 31st, 1908

Olshausen, von, Gerd* February 6th, 1913
† April 5th, 1943

Olze, Arno* March 10th, 1915
† February 23rd, 1973

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Omert, Emil* January 15th, 1918
† April 24th, 1944

Ondarza, von, Herbert* November 24th, 1878
† 1976

Opelt, Kurt* August 16th, 1893
† March 20th, 1973

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Opitz, Heinz-Eberhard* July 13th, 1912
† October 11th, 1997

Opitz, Paul-Hermann* August 19th, 1917

Opitz, Rudolf* August 9th, 1910
† May 1st, 2010

Oppeln-Bronikowski, von, Hermann Leopold August* January 2nd, 1899
† September 19th, 1966

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Oppenländer, Günter* April 10th, 1908

Oppenländer, Kurt (Generalleutnant)* February 11th, 1892
† March 17th, 1947

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Oppermann, Heinz* October 8th, 1918

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Oprotkowitz, Heinz* January 6th, 1922

Oriola, Graf von, Ralf* August 9th, 1895
† April 28th, 1970

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Orlowski, Helmut* October 7th, 1914
† November 8th, 1943

Orschler, Willi* September 1st, 1896
† August 25th, 1941

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Orth, Bernhard* February 18th, 1918
† May 8th, 2011

Ortlieb, Karl* June 4th, 1905
† January 28th, 1981

Ortmanns, Johann 'Hans'* August 24th, 1919

Ortner, Bruno* October 7th, 1889
† 1971

Orzegowski, Ernst* October 19th, 1919
† August 2nd, 2005

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Osbahr, Ferdinand* March 31st, 1910

Osburg, Rudolf Herbert (Lehr-Geschwader 1)* April 9th, 1919
† May 26th, 1942
Grave: UNK

Ossmann, Rüdiger† October 8th, 1943

Ostarek, Rudolf* April 23rd, 1917
† July 18th, 1977

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Osten, von der, Kurt-Adelbert* April 26th, 1921
† February 9th, 2004

Ostendorff, Werner (Waffen SS)* August 15th, 1903
† May 1st, 1945

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Oster, Dieter* January 15th, 1918
† December 6th, 2015

Osterhold, August* May 9th, 1911
† August 16th, 1943

Osterhold, Wilhelm* January 12th, 1914
† April 3rd, 2002

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Ostermann, Ernst Gerhard Walter (Panzer-Reg. 11)* March 15th, 1916
† March 2nd, 1943

Ostermeier, Hans-Arno (Fallschirm-Pz-Gren.Reg.3)* February 10th, 1903
† June 13th, 1989

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Ostermeyer, Friedrich (Infanterie-Regiment 16)* August 24th, 1884
† June 24th, 1963

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Ostertag, Reinhard* October 28th, 1913

Oswald, Erich Max (Pz.Abt. 66)* September 27th, 1912
† February 19th, 1945

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Oswald, Franz (WL-Schlagtgeschwader)* August 9th, 1915
† January 13th, 2003

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Otolski, Oskar* December 2nd, 1913
† April 22nd, 1945

Ott, Adolf Karl Friedrich* August 20th, 1914
† March 4th, 1944
Plot: 22 Row: 24 Grave: 947

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Ott, Joachim* February 22nd, 1918
† June 26th, 1998

Ott, Rudolf* February 10th, 1905
† October 19th, 1987

Ottawa, Norbert* May 31st, 1918
† January 21st, 1974

Otte, Dr., Maximilian* September 3rd, 1910
† May 20th, 1944

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Otte, Friedrich Wilhelm* September 22nd, 1898
† May 8th, 1944

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Otter, Anton* March 1st, 1914
† 2004

Ottitsch, Ferdinand* March 15th, 1920
† February 7th, 1943

Ottmann, Werner (Waffen SS)* January 15th, 1919
† February 24th, 1990

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Otto, Ernst (SS-Panzer-Regiment 1)* February 2nd, 1910
† December 26th, 1968

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Otto, Ernst (WH-Infanterie-Regiment 454)* October 14th, 1914
† June 11th, 1993

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Otto, Heinz* February 21st, 1917

Otto, Paul-Friedrich* April 3rd, 1917

Otto, Siegfried* January 27th, 1915

Otto, Wolfgang (Waffen SS)* October 28th, 1919

Overath, Wilhelm* February 28th, 1914
† May 1979

Ow auf Wachendorf, Freiherr von, Hartmann (Gen.)* August 14th, 1888
† December 13th, 1969

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Oxner, Joachim* April 19th, 1914
† January 28th, 1944

Sources