Original Item: One-of-a-kind Set. This is a fantastic award and document set from WWII Germany, named to a member of the Kriegsmarine Navy, Karl Joch. These sets are fantastic research opportunities, and we rarely get sets like this, especially from the Kriegsmarine! Almost all of the groups like this we get are from the Heer Army or the Luftwaffe Air Force, making this a rare treat!

The centerpiece of the set is a WWII German Kriegsmarine Soldbuch zugleich Personalausweis (Pay book and identity card), issued to Karl Joch, born 27. 5. 02. The inside of the front cover still retains a picture of Joch, retained by the proper type of staples, with stamps over the corners and his signature on the photo itself. His rank is listed on page 1 as originally being Maschinenmaat, with a promotion on 1. 11. 42 to Ob. Masch. Mt. (Obermaschinenmaat), and later on 1. 1. 44 a promotion to Maschinist i R., indicating he was in the reserves at that time. This shows a lovely rank progression through the Machinist Rating tree, from a Maat (Petty Officer Third Class) to a Feldwebel (Petty Officer First Class), which has the title of "Maschinist" in this rating tree.

Page 4 shows the awards that Joch received and the dates of award, which include an E.K.II on 14. 5. 40, an award we cannot decipher on 7. 12. 40, and an E.K.I on 22. 7. 42. This book contains much other information related to Bruder's service, and will make a fantastic translation project for whoever purchases it. Overall condition is good and many pages are covered in handwriting and ink stamps, meaning this has some excellent further research potential. Of note: the persons filling out the book wrote using Kurrentschrift, an older form of Germanic script writing, which is why the all the "u" letters are written as "ŭ". In this script the lowercase "n" and "u" are identical, so the latter gets the arc shaped mark over it. This is not indicative of an umlaut or other diacritical marking.

The Enlistment Document indicates that Joch joined Kriegsmarine service at the Marineannahmeſtelle Wesermünde (Wesermünde Naval Reception Center), though there is unfortunately no indication of the date, and it was not fully filled out during the period.

The award document indicates that it was awarded to Maschinenmaaten K a r l  J o c h in Wilhelmshaven on 15. Mai 1940. This is an NCO rank in the Kriegsmarine Navy, which roughly translates to "Machinist's Mate", and is equivalent to a Petty Officer Second Class in the Machinist rating tree. The lower left corner has the stamp of the Kriegsmarine Befehlshaber der Sicherung der Nordsee (Commander of North Sea Security), whowas responsible for the security German harbors and coastal waters in the North Sea during World War II. It is signed by the Konteradmiral (Commodore) who held that position at the time, whose name we have not been able to decipher.

The document has all the correct stamps and markings, and measures about 7 5/8" x 5 1/2", (about 20cm x 14cm), printed on medium-weight paper with black print and typed in particulars. It is in good condition, showing light staining, and is folded in half.

The Iron Cross itself is a very nice example with crisp beading, and the silvering to the frame has a lovely lightly tarnished patina and looks great! The matte black core paint on the iron center on both sides is in great shape, showing just a bit of crazing and checking, with no major wear. The original ribbon is properly threaded through the hanger ring, and shows light wear and staining from age and use. There is a copper plated safety pin attached to the top of the ribbon.

Please also note the edge seam on the cross for authentication, which is not present on reproductions. Iron crosses were commonly constructed from an iron core sandwiched in a surrounding two part silver frame, normally the seam of these two silver parts is visible around the edge of the cross as is seen on this fine example.

The cross comes with its original ribbon, threaded through the ring on the award and folded, with a blued safety pin on the end. The original paper packet is the blue paper version, and was torn off at the top, so only about 60% of the packet remains. It is color faded on the top, while the reverse still shows the original color well. It has the correct markings in German Black Letter Typeface: 

Eisernes Kreuze
2. Klasse
1939

There is a maker mark on the reverse for Arbeitsgemeinſchaft der Graveur=, Gold= und Silberſchmiede=Innungen Hanau, or the "Working group of the engravers, goldsmiths and silversmiths guilds in Hanau", a known maker of the Iron cross. We believe that the packet is original to the award.

The basic design of the WWII crosses is a central Tatzenkreuz (cross pattée) struck from iron and mounted in a silver frame which has a raised crenulated decorative border. The obverse of the cross bears the date 1939 under a "mobile" swas. Second class crosses would have a ring at the top where a ring was attached, and had more markings on the back. The first class award, however, was meant to attach directly to the front of the uniform.

Definitely a great named set with lots of further research potential!

More on the German Soldbuch:
The Soldbuch served the soldier as a personal identification document in wartime and as an authorization to receive pay from his own or outside pay-stations. In addition, it was identification for rail travel, detached service, leave, and for receiving mail. The Soldbuch was always carried by the soldier on his person in a tunic pocket. Leaving the book in one's baggage or in one's quarters was not permitted. The careful preservation of the book was in the best interest of the owner. The Soldbuch had to be kept in an orderly fashion. The owner must see to it, that all changes in pay due to transfer or promotion are immediately entered by his responsible duty station. The Soldbuch was an official document. Entries were only to be made by a Wehrmacht duty station. Making unauthorized changes is punishable as falsification of official documents. The loss of a Soldbuch was to be reported as soon the loss is discovered to the holders unit or duty station, and the issue of a new Soldbuch will be requested.

There is no more iconic German military award than the Iron Cross. The long history of this order began during the Napoleonic Wars. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia instituted the “Eisernes Kreuz” (Iron Cross) in March of 1813. The award criteria changed somewhat with time, but generally speaking, Iron Crosses could be awarded for individual acts of bravery, or for leadership achievements on the battlefield. The design was created by a Karl Friedrich Schinkel, his choice of the black cross with silver outline was derived from the heraldic emblem of the Teutonic Knights. This central Tatzenkreuz (cross pattée) struck from iron and mounted in a silver frame which has a raised crenulated decorative border.

There were a number of different type and grades of Iron Cross awards throughout its long history, but the basic details of the most widely awarded grades: The Iron Cross 1st Class and Iron Cross 2nd Class- remained the same. The first class award was a breast badge, with fittings on the reverse to allow it to be worn on the uniform. These fittings varied widely over time and from maker to maker, and could be a simple in and catch, a screw post and retaining disc, or more elaborate setups. The second class award was suspended from a ribbon, originally in the Prussian colors of black and white, later in the Reich colors of black, red and white.

On the original versions of these crosses, in 1813, the front of the iron core of each grade was bare, and only the second class award had ornamentation: a crown over the initials “FW” representing the King, a sprig of oak leaves, and the date 1813. The core was redesigned in 1870, when the cross was re-instituted during the Franco-Prussian War. The reverse ornamentation on the Iron Cross 2nd Class remained the same, but the front of the core on both grades now bore another crown, a “W” representing Kaiser Wilhelm, and the date 1870. This pattern repeated again when the cross was reinstituted for WWI- everything stayed the same, only the date 1870 was replaced with 1914.

The final reinstitution of the cross came in 1939. For this version, the front of the core for both grades bore a swas and the date 1939. The oak leaves, crown and royal initials were removed from the reverse, with only the date 1813 remaining as a reminder of the legacy of this award. In WWII, hundreds of thousands of Iron Cross First Class awards were bestowed, and four and a half million Iron Cross Second Class awards. Iron Crosses were made by a large number of authorized manufacturers. Some variants of these awards were mass produced in huge numbers. Others were made in very limited quantities.