Die Geschichte des eisernen Kreuzes und seine Bedeutung für das preußische und deutsche Auszeichnungswesen von 1813 bis zur Gegenwart

The Eiserne Kreuz (Iron Cross) was the first military decoration awarded for military heroism which could be given to all male citizens not only noble men. It was established by King Frederick William III of Prussia on 17 March 1813 at the beginning of the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon (1813-15) and accompanied the introduction of universal conscription. Every fighting man should have the possibility to distinguish himself in warfare and receive an Iron Cross. The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), World War I and World War II. After 1945 the victorious allied powers did not allow the wearing of Iron Cross any longer in Germany. Hütte’s published dissertation explores the history of the Iron Cross from the era of the Anti-Napoleonic Wars to post-1945 West Germany.