Knight's Cross Guide

This is an identification guide for the eight different makers of the official award version of the Knight's Cross. Except for a few rare early examples, all crosses by these makers have a 2 piece silver frame around a magnetic iron core. The Knight's Cross measured 48mm wide and weighted approximately 28.75 grams. In total, 7313 awards of the Knight's Cross were made.

The makers are Gebrüder Godet & Co., Deschler & Sohn, C. E. Juncker, Klein & Quenzer, Paul Meybauer, Steinhauer & Lück, Otto Schickle, and C. F. Zimmermann. Godet and Zimmermann examples are assembled using frames and cores produced from the same set of dies. It is assumed that Zimmermann held the dies because when the original Godet dies were sold and used to produce copies starting in the 1960's, the Knight's Cross was not included. An authentic Deschler & Sohn Knight's Cross has not been identified. With the "7" marked "rounder" Knight's Cross being identified as a reproduction, an example of the Paul Meybauer Knight's Cross was unknown until an "L/13" marked example was authendicated in Europe a few years ago. It was assembled using Juncker frames and core. The Juncker factory and dies were destroyed in an air raid in 1944. Both Klein & Quenzer and Steinhauer & Lück continued to produce examples after 1945. All Klein & Quenzer examples use the same die stamped frames. Steinhauer & Lück has produced Knight's Crosses using 3 different dies, known as Type A, Type B, and Type C. Type A are accepted as pre 1945 production. Type C is known to be post 1945 production. Type B is found both with, and without a die flaw in the 3 o'clock frame arm of the cross. Type B crosses with the die flaw are acknowledged as post 1945 production. Some have claimed that the Type B cross without the die flaw is pre 1945, but because many have non-magnetic centers, they are not considered award versions. A magnetic center Type B without the die flaw is included in the guide. As most makers used only one set of hand made dies for their entire production run, the frames and core of every authentic example for a particular maker should show the same minor differences in tooling.

Knight's Crosses can be found made of other material and by other makers. They fall under the category of "display medals", "jeweller's copies" or "field awards". The Knight's Cross has been extensively reproduced, so "Caveat emptor"!

To the best of our knowledge, all the examples shown are original pre-1945 manufacture. If anyone has questions or suggestions, please contact Vern@GermanDaggers.com.

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Gebrüder Godet & Co. Unmarked (early style loop) - obverse	Gebrüder Godet & Co. Unmarked (early style loop) - reverse
Gebrüder Godet & Co. "21" and "800" on ring - obverse	Gebrüder Godet & Co. "21" and "800" on ring - reverse
Gebrüder Godet & Co. "21", "800" on ring and "800" on cross - obverse	Gebrüder Godet & Co. "21", "800" on ring and "800" on cross - reverse
C. E. Juncker Unmarked - obverse	C. E. Juncker Unmarked - reverse
C. E. Juncker Lazy "2" and "800" - obverse	C. E. Juncker Lazy "2" and "800" - reverse
C. E. Juncker L/12 and "800" - obverse	C. E. Juncker L/12 and "800" - reverse
C. E. Juncker "800" with a dot underneath - obverse	C. E. Juncker "800" with a dot underneath - reverse
Klein & Quenzer "65", "800" on ring and "800" on cross - obverse	Klein & Quenzer "65", "800" on ring and "800" on cross - reverse
Klein & Quenzer L/26 and "800" - obverse	Klein & Quenzer L/26 and "800" - reverse
Paul Meybauer L/13 and "800" - obverse	Paul Meybauer L/13 and "800" - reverse
Steinhauer & Lück Type A "935" and "4" - obverse	Steinhauer & Lück Type A "935" and "4" - reverse
Steinhauer & Lück Type A "935" - obverse	Steinhauer & Lück Type A "935" - reverse
Steinhauer & Lück Type A "800" - obverse	Steinhauer & Lück Type A "800" - reverse
Steinhauer & Lück Type A Micro "800" - obverse	Steinhauer & Lück Type A Micro "800" - reverse
Steinhauer & Lück Type B "800" and "4" - obverse	Steinhauer & Lück Type B "800" and "4" - reverse
Otto Schickle L/15 and "800" - obverse	Otto Schickle L/15 and "800" - reverse
C. F. Zimmermann "20" and "800" - obverse	C. F. Zimmermann "20" and "800" - reverse
C. F. Zimmermann Crazy "20", "800" on cross and "20", "800" on ring - obverse	C. F. Zimmermann Crazy "20", "800" on cross and "20", "800" on ring - reverse