Germany – Third Reich: A good quality mounted group comprising: Iron Cross 1939, 2nd Class, non maker marked; Eastern Front Winter War Medal 1941-1942, non maker marked; Entry into Austria Medal, 13th March 1938; Entry into the Sudetenland Medal, 1st October 1938, with Prague Castle bar, all mounted as worn in the continental style.
Mounted group of medals comprising: Germany – Third Reich: Iron Cross 1939, 2nd Class, non maker marked; Eastern Front Winter War Medal 1941-1942, non maker marked; Entry into Austria Medal, 13th March 1938; Entry into the Sudetenland Medal, 1st October 1938, with Prague Castle bar, all mounted as worn in the continental style.
Condition: Prague castle bar is bent to fit the mounting style, mounted continental style for wear, Good Very Fine
Adolf Hitler restored the Iron Cross in 1939 as a German decoration (rather than Prussian), and continued the tradition of issuing it in various classes. Legally, it is based on the enactment (Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573) of 1st September 1939 Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes (Regulation for the Re-introduction of the Iron Cross). The Iron Cross of World War II was divided into three main series of decorations with an intermediate category, the Knight’s Cross, instituted between the lowest, the Iron Cross, and the highest, the Grand Cross. The Knight's Cross replaced the Prussian Pour le Merite or Blue Max . Hitler did not care for the Pour le Mérite, as it was a Prussian order that could be awarded only to officers. The ribbon of the medal (2nd class and Knight's Cross) was different from the earlier Iron Crosses in that the color red was used in addition to the traditional black and white (black and white were the colors of Prussia, while black, white, and red were the colors of Germany). It is estimated that some four and a half million 2nd Class Iron Crosses were awarded during World War II, and 300,000 of the 1st Class.
Instituted on October 18, 1938, the medal commemorated the union of the Sudetenland to Germany. Once again Hitler employed skillful diplomacy, using brinkmanship as a tool to bring the Sudetenland under German control and paving the road for the annexation of Czechoslovakia. The medal was awarded to all German (and as well Sudeten) State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who marched into Sudetenland. Later it was awarded to military personnel participating in the occupation of the remnants of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939. For those who had participated in both the occupation of the Sudetenland and the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia on March 15, 1939, a bronze Bar (Spange Prager Burg in German) was approved on May 1, 1939. This Bar featured the Prague Castle on the obverse with two triangular prongs in the back, which held it on the ribbon. The bar, like the medal, die-struck and high in detail, with a bronze finish. It was designed by the sculpturer Hanish-Conée. It was awarded until December 31, 1940. In all 1,162,617 medals and 134,563 bars were awarded.
