Danzig Cross

The Danzig Cross (German: Danziger Kreuz) was a Nazi decoration of the Free City of Danzig. The Cross was instituted on 31 August 1939 as a two grade decoration by Danzig Gauleiter Albert Forster. It was awarded to those, both in Danzig and in the wider Reich, who contributed to building up the Nazi Party in the Free City prior to its incorporation into Germany on 1 September 1939.^[1]

Danzig Cross Danziger Kreuz
Ribbon: Danzig Cross, second class
Type	Merit award
Awarded for	Building up the Nazi Party in Danzig
Description	Two class decoration
Presented by	German Danzig
Eligibility	Nazi Party members
Established	31 August 1939
First awarded	24 October 1939
Total	88 first class 253 second class
Danzig city arms that appear on the award

By December 1939, 88 first class and 253 second class crosses had been awarded, most of them in a ceremony on 24 October 1939. Hans Frank was a recipient of the award on 19 May 1940.^[2]

Design

The SS and Police Leader in German-occupied Norway Wilhelm Rediess with Danzig Cross and Golden Party Badge on his SS-Obergruppenführer uniform 1941.

The Danzig Cross was designed by Benno von Arent. The cross, with elongated upper and lower arms, is in white enamel with gilt outlines. Its upper arm and centre bear the coronet and twin cross of the Danzig coat of arms, also in gilt. The reverse is plain with a Huelse Berlin maker's mark. The second class, 43mm in height and 31mm wide, is attached to a red ribbon with yellow and white strips on its edges. The first class cross, slightly larger at 60mm by 44mm, is convex and has a pin on the reverse for wear on the left side of the jacket.^[1]

As an award of the National Socialist government of Danzig, the Cross was recognised as an official decoration of a German state, and could therefore be worn in both Nazi Party and Wehrmacht uniform.^[3] All Nazi era decorations were banned after Germany's defeat in 1945, and the Danzig Cross was not among those re-authorised for wear by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957.^[4][5]

Notes

1. Littlejohn & Dodkins 1968, pp. 218–219.
2. Miller 2015, p. 452.
3. Presidential office of the Reich Chancellery announcement, published in Uniformen-Markt, 1 May 1941.
4. German Federal law: Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen, 26.7.1957.
5. German Federal regulation: Nr. 14/97, July 1996, annex 13/8.

References

• Christopher Ailsby (May 1997). SS: Roll of Infamy. Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-1782743132.
• Littlejohn, David; Dodkins, Colonel C. M. (1968). Orders, Decorations, Medals and Badges of the Third Reich. R. James Bender Publishing, California. ISBN 978-0854200801.
• Miller, Michael (2015). Leaders of the Storm Troops Volume 1. England: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-87-1.
• Uniformen-Markt. German magazine, published 1934–45.
• "Bundesministerium der Justiz: Gesetz über Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen, 26.7.1957. Bundesgesetzblatt Teil III, Gliederungsnummer 1132-1". German Federal law.
• "Dienstvorschriften Nr. 14/97. Bezug: Anzugordnung für die Soldaten der Bundeswehr. ZDv 37/10. (Juli 1996)". German Federal regulation.