Medal - German WW II 1939 Iron Cross 1st Class. It is issued without the ribbon & loop. The medal is in poor condition. The military decoration called the Iron Cross which existed in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire and Third Reich, was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on the 10th of March in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II. The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. 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. 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 standard 1939 Iron Cross was issued in the following two grades: Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse - abbreviated as EK II or E.K.II.) Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse - abbreviated as EK I or E.K.I.) The Iron Cross was awarded for bravery in battle as well as other military contributions in a battlefield environment. The Iron Cross 1st Class was a pin-on medal with no ribbon and was worn centered on a uniform breast pocket, either on dress uniforms or everyday outfit. It was a progressive award, with the second class having to be earned before the first class and so on for the higher degrees. The Iron Cross 2nd Class came with a ribbon and the cross itself was worn in one of two different ways: From the second button in the tunic for the first day after award. When in formal dress, the entire cross was worn mounted alone or as part of a medal bar. Note that for everyday wear, only the ribbon itself was worn from the second buttonhole in the tunic. 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.