List of living Knight’s Cross recipients

[[File:Knight'sCrossOfTheIronCrossWithGoldenOakleavesSwordsAndDiamonds.jpg]]

{{Infobox Military Award
|name=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
|image=[[Image:Knight'sCrossOfTheIronCrossWithGoldenOakleavesSwordsAndDiamonds.jpg|150px]]
|caption=The ultimate expression of the award: the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, awarded only to [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]].
|awarded_by=[[[...] Germany]]
|type=[[Neck order]]
|eligibility=Military personnel
|for=Awarded to holders of the [[Iron Cross]] to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership
|campaign=[[World War II]]
|status=Obsolete
|description=
|clasps=
|established=[[1 September]], [[1939]]
|first_award=[[30 September]], [[1939]]
|last_award=[[11 May]], [[1945]] / [[17 June]], [[1945]]{{ref label|Note1|a|a}}
|total=
|posthumous=
|recipients=
|individual=
|higher=[[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]]
|same=
|lower=[[Iron Cross|Iron Cross 1st Class]]
|related=
|image2=
|caption2=
}}

The '''Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross''' and its higher grades were based on four separate [[Coming into force|enactments]]. The first enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 1573">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19390007&zoom=2&seite=00001573&ues=on&x=21&y=6 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 1573; 1 September 1939]</ref> of September 1, 1939 instituted the [[Iron Cross]] and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 849">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19400007&zoom=2&seite=00000849&ues=on&x=22&y=10 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 849; 3 June 1940]</ref> of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 613">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19410007&zoom=2&seite=00000613&ues=on&x=14&y=9 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 613; 28 September 1941]</ref> of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 11">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19450007&zoom=2&seite=00000011&ues=on&x=14&y=10 Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11; 29 December 1944]</ref> of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.
The following list is the last known living recipients.

== Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds ==
Last living and only recipient: [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], 1916-1982

== Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds ==
Last living recipient: [[Adolf Galland]], 1912-1996

== Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ==
Last living recipients:

#[[Waldemar von Gazen]], born 1917
#[[Hajo Herrmann]], born 1913
#[[Günther Rall]], born 1918
#[[Erich Rudorffer]], born 1917

== Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves ==
Last living recipients:

# [[Otto Carius]], born 1922
# Kurt Dahlmann, born 1918
# Oskar-Hubert Dennhardt, born 1915
# [[Martin Drewes]], born 1918
# [[Klaus Feldt]], born 1912
# [[Walter Girg]], born 1919
# Hermann Greiner, born 1920
# [[Reinhard Hardegen]], born 1913
# Rolf Hermichen, born 1918
# Franz Kieslich, born 1913
# [[Hans-Günther Lange]], born 1916
# [[Georg Lassen]], born 1915
# Kuno von Meyer, born 1913
# Dr. Josef-Georg Mulzer, born 1915
# [[Heinz Rökker]], born 1920
# Heinrich Ruhl, born 1915
# Wolfgang Schenck, born 1913
# [[Walter Schuck]], born 1920
# Johann Schwerdfeger, born 1914
# Gerhard Simons, born 1921
# Georg Störck, born 1917
# Wilhelm Weidenbrück, born 1915
# Dr. Eberhard Zahn, born 1910
# [[Paul Zorner]], born 1920

==Knight's Cross==

{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse; border: 1px #555 solid;" class="sortable"; fontsize="90%"
|- bgcolor="#ccccff"
!colspan=1 width="10%"|Residence
!colspan=1 width="13%"|Name
!colspan=1 width="12%"|Date of Birth
!colspan=1 width="5%"|Age
!colspan=1 width="10%"|Nationality
!colspan=1 width="25%"|Force served
!colspan=1 width="25%"|Notes
|-
|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Germany]]||[[Ernst Barkmann|Barkmann, Ernst]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1919|August|25}}||{{age|1919|8|25}}||[[German people|German]]||[[Image:Flag Schutzstaffel.svg|20px]] [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|Division Das Reich]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Germany]]||[[Winrich Behr|Behr, Winrich]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1918|January|22}}||{{age|1918|1|22}}||[[German people|German]]||{{flagicon|[...] Germany}} [[6th Army (Germany)|Sixth Army]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Germany]]||[[Karl Brommann|Bromann, Karl]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1920|July|20}}||{{age|1920|7|20}}||[[German people|German]]||[[Image:Flag Schutzstaffel.svg|20px]] [[SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103|103 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Denmark]]||[[Søren Kam|Kam, Søren]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1921|November|11}}||{{age|1921|11|11}}||[[Danish people|Danish]]||{{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Free Corps Denmark]]||
|-
|{{EST}}||[[Harald Nugiseks|Nugiseks, Harald]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1921|October|22}}||{{age|1921|10|22}}||[[Estonian people|Estonian]]||{{flagicon|Estonia}} [[Estonian Legion]]||
|-
|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Germany]]||[[Jürgen Oesten|Oesten, Jürgen]]||{{dts|link=off|format=dmy|1913|October|24}}||{{age|1913|10|24}}||[[German people|German]]||[[Image:War Ensign of Germany 1938-1945.svg|23px]] [[Kriegsmarine]]||
|}

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Lists of military personnel|Living Knight’s Cross recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross|*Living]]