Luftwaffe grouping to Oberfeldwebel Alfred Hoffmann serving with Kampfgruppe z.B.V. 5.
Certificate to German Cross in Gold. Issued on 07.11.1944. Facsimile signatures by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and Generaloberst Bruno Loerzer. Folded and 5-6 tiny holes
Certificate to Luftwaffe Honor Goblet. Issued on 14.11.1943. Facsimile signature by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and hand-signed by Generaloberst Bruno Loerzer, Knight's Cross and Pour le Mèrite winner.
Certificate to Air Gunner's and Flight Engineer's Badge. Issued on 23.09.1940. Hand-signed by Generalleutnant Gustav Kastner-Kirdorf.
Certificate to Squadron Clasp for Kampfflieger in Silver. Issued on 08.03.1943. Hand-signed by Oberst Ernst Kühl, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner.
Certificate to Squadron Clasp for Transportflieger in Bronze. Issued on 28.10.1942. Hand-signed by Oberst Fritz Morzik, Knight's Cross winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 1st Class. Issued on 08.02.1943. Hand-signed by Generaloberst Wolfram von Richthofen, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner.
Certificate to 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class. Issued on 05.12.1942. Hand-signed by General der Flieger Otto Deßloch, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves winner.
Luftwaffe promotion document. Promoted to Feldwebel. Issued on 01.03.1943. Hand-signed by an Oberstleutnant.
Three lists with a total of 76 frontline flights "Frontflüge" for the award of the Luftwaffe squadron clasps. Hand-signed by a Hauptmann.
A page (21/22) from his Soldbuch listing his awards. Including the German Cross in Gold and the Luftwaffe Honor Goblet. He was also awarded the Squadron Clasp in Gold on 13.09.1943.
Award booklet to DRL German Sports Badge. His photo is in place. He was awarded the bronze grade.
Luftwaffe flight book "Flugbuch" from 09.02.1939 until 20.11.1940. It contains 276 flights (no flights on the frontline). Complete with all the pages.
Two photocopies of award certificates. Both have been authenticated by the Federal Ministry of Defense (postwar).
----
Signs of use. Most of the documents have two holes. Good condition.
Condition
2/2-
Historical information
NAME
German Cross in Gold
DATE OF INSTITUTION
28. September 1941 as a military order in two grades. A special grade, the German Cross in Gold with Diamonds was planned and prototypes were made.
AWARD CRITERIA
The golden grade was awarded for multiple exceptional deeds of bravery or leadership and the silver grade for exceptional deeds in troop leadership. The award of the Iron Cross 1. Class, the Spange 1. Class , or the War Merit Cross 1. Class was a pre-requisite for the awarding of the German Cross. The German Cross was located above the Iron Cross 1. Class and War Merit Cross 1. Class but below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, respectively the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross.
MANUFACTURERS
The German Cross was awarded by the decision of the supreme commanders of the three army branches.
The German Cross was produced by five known manufacturers and maybe one or two not yet known companies. The known manufacturers are Deschler & Sohn, who designed the cross, Gebrüder Godet, C.E. Juncker, C.F. Zimmermann, and Otto Klein.
Early crosses are unmarked and from the end of 1942/early 1943 onwards, the crosses were marked with the Präsidialkanzlei numbers of the companies.
Due to the heavy and slightly bulky nature of the award, a cloth version was authorized in June 1942. The cloth version can be found with eight different cloth backing colors: field gray (army), dark blue (navy), blue-gray (LW), black (tank forces), stone gray (assault gun), olive (Africa Heer), light khaki (Africa LW), and white (summer uniform).
AWARD NUMBERS
Accurate numbers are not known but the closest estimation based on surviving documents are 25,964 for the gold grade and 2,471 for the silver grade. A known total of eleven soldiers were awarded both grades.
The crosses were mainly stored and registered at the Präsidalkanzlei and were given out by this office. It is possible that smaller numbers were stored at the personnel offices of the three army branches.
AWARD DOCUMENTS
The Heer issued preliminary award documents in the format A5, followed by a larger (356 mm x 254 mm) formal document. The Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine never issued any preliminary documents, only the formal ones in the same size as the formal document of the Heer.
WEARING METHOD
The German Cross was worn at the right side of the uniform on the breast pocket.
