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Resolving Category:Harv and Sfn no-target errors: add sfnref

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{{about|the military decoration|the symbol of the German armed forces|Iron Cross}}
{{Infobox award
|name=Clasp to the Iron Cross<br/>{{lang|de|Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz}}
|image=Sp1ek1.JPG
|image_size=160px
|caption=1939 Clasp to the Iron Cross 1st Class
|presenter=[[Nazi Germany]]
|type=[[Medal bar|Clasp]]
|eligibility=Military personnel who had already received the [[Iron Cross]] (1914).
|awarded_for=
|campaign=[[World War II]]
|status=Obsolete
|description=
|clasps=
|established=1 September 1939
|firstawarded=
|lastawarded=
|total_awarded=
|total_awarded_posthumously=
|total_recipients=
|individual=
|higher=
|same=
|lower=
|related=
|image2=
|caption2=
}}
The '''Clasp to the Iron Cross''' ({{lang|de|Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz}}) was a white metal [[medal bar|medal clasp]] displayed on the uniforms of [[Germany|German]] [[Wehrmacht]] personnel who had been awarded the [[Iron Cross]] in [[World War I]], and who again qualified for the decoration in [[World War II]].{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=341}}

During the war, over 100,000 clasps were awarded.{{sfn|Littlejohn|Dodkins|1968|p=120}}

==Description==
A holder of the 1914 Iron Cross could qualify for the same grade of the 1939 Iron Cross. To permit the two awards to be worn together, a "1939 Clasp" (''Spange'') was established to be worn with the original 1914 Iron Cross.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=341}} It depicted a national eagle clutching an oak leaf wreath surrounding a [[swastika]] above a [[trapezoid]] bearing the year ''1939''.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=341}}

For the Second Class, the clasp was attached to the [[medal ribbon|ribbon]] of the 1914 Iron Cross, either on a ribbon bar, or when the ribbon was worn through a tunic button hole.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=341}} For the First Class, a larger differently proportioned clasp was pinned directly on the upper breast pocket above the Iron Cross 1st class (1914) of the wearer. This pin-back clasp was usually awarded in a presentation case.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|pp=345, 346}}
[[File:Wiederholungsspange EK2.jpg|200px|thumb|upright|1939 Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class mounted on the 1914 ribbon]]

While Nazi era awards were initially banned by the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1957 many World War II military decorations, including the Iron Cross, were re-authorised for wear by qualifying veterans.{{sfn|German Federal law|1957|pp=2–3, zweiter abschnitt}} With display of the swastika banned, the clasp to the Iron Cross was re-designed as a silver rectangular bar bearing the date '1939', with a miniature Iron Cross in the centre of the bar.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EK_57er_Version.jpg Bundesanzeiger Nr. 41: 28 February 1958]</ref>{{sfn|Williamson|1984|}}
[[File:Iron Crosses denazified 1957 - kopia (5) - kopia.jpg|thumb|1957 redesigned Clasp to the Iron Cross]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | last = Angolia | first = John | title = For Führer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich | publisher = R. James Bender Publishing | year = 1987 | isbn = 0912138149 }}
*{{cite book|last1= Littlejohn|first1= David|last2= Dodkins|first2 = Colonel C. M.|title = Orders, Decorations, Medals and Badges of the Third Reich |publisher= R. James Bender Publishing, California |year= 1968 |isbn = 978-0854200801}}
*{{cite book |last1=Williamson |first1=Gordon |author1-link=Gordon Williamson (military author) |title=The Iron Cross: A History, 1813-1957 |date=1984 |publisher=Blandford Press |location=London |isbn=9780713714609}}
*{{cite magazine |title=Bundesministerium der Justiz: Gesetz über Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen |date=26 July 1957 |trans-title=[[Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)|Federal Ministry of Justice]]: Law on Titles, Orders and Decorations |magazine=[[Bundesgesetzblatt (Germany)|Bundesgesetzblatt]] |url= http://bundesrecht.juris.de/ordeng/BJNR008440957.html |trans-magazine=Federal Law Gazette Part III Outline Number 1132-1|lang=de |ref={{sfnref|German Federal law|1957}} }}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author1-last=Maerz |author2-last=Stimson |author1-first=Dietrich |author2-first=George |title=The Iron Cross 1. Class |date=2010 |publisher=B&D Publishing LLC |location=[[Richmond, Michigan]] |isbn=978-0-9797969-7-5}}
*{{cite book |last1=Maerz |first1=Dietrich |title=The Spange for the Iron Cross 2. Class |date=2020 |publisher=B&D Publishing LLC |location=Richmond, Michigan |isbn=978-1-7923-3210-4}}

{{List of military decorations of the Third Reich |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Military awards and decorations of Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1939]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in Germany]]

Clasp to the Iron Cross - Revision history

imported>Andy02124: Resolving Category:Harv and Sfn no-target errors: add sfnref