NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Grand Cross

The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross was an award intended for senior Generals of the German Army and dated back to 1870. It was the senior most decoration of the Iron Cross award series.

During the Second World War, Hermann G�ring was the only recipient of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded the decoration on July 19, 1940.

An even higher decoration, the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, was intended to have been presented to the most successful German General of the Second World War, once Germany had achieved victory. The decoration was obviously never bestowed.

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Results from FactBites:

Iron Cross - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2382 words)
	The Iron Cross originally was the symbol of the Teutonic Knights (a heraldic cross pattée) and the cross design (but not the specific decoration) is the symbol of Germany's armed forces (the Bundeswehr) and was the symbol of the German armed forces since about 1870.
	The Iron Cross (a fl four-pointed cross with white trim, with the arms widening towards the ends, similar to a Maltese Cross) was designed by the neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and reflects the cross borne by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century, which was also the emblem of Frederick the Great.
	Hermann Göring received the Grand Cross for his command of the Luftwaffe during the successful 1940 campaign against France, Belgium, and the Netherlands (at the same time as he was promoted to Reichsmarschall of the Greater German Reich).

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