The Knight's Cross was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of military valour.

Presentations were made to members of the three military branches of the Wehrmacht: the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force), as well as the Waffen-SS, the Reich Labour Service and the Volkssturm (German People storm militia), along with personnel from other Axis powers.

At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, was created.

The Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III established the Iron Cross at the beginning of the German campaign as part of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Prussian state had mounted a campaign steeped in patriotic rhetoric to rally their citizens to repulse the French occupation.

With the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, Adolf Hitler in his role as commander in chief of the German armed forces decreed the renewal of the Iron Cross of 1939.

The re-institution of the Iron Cross was therefore a Führer decree, which had political implication since the Treaty of Versailles had explicitly prohibited the creation of a military decoration, order or medal.

Prior to Case Yellow (Fall Gelb), the attack on the Netherlands, Belgium and France, just 52 Knight's Crosses had been awarded.

The timing for the introduction of the Oak Leaves is closely linked to Case Red (Fall Rot), the second and decisive phase of the Battle of France.

[9] Like the Knight's Cross to which it was added, the Oak Leaves clasp could be awarded for leadership, distinguished service or personal gallantry.

[7] The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten) was instituted on 15 July 1941.

[14] The Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten) was instituted on 29 December 1944.

[15] This medal was the highest level, originally intended for 12 of the most distinguished servicemen in the entire German armed forces after the war ended.

The award was also noted in the recipient's Soldbuch (Soldier's Pay Book), his Wehrpass (Military Identification) and personnel records.

[21] After 30 April 1945, in the context of the rapid disintegration of Germany's government and armed forces, it is unclear who held the authority to approve awards.

[23] The validity of this "Dönitz decree" (Dönitz-Erlaß) was contested after the war, and the German military archive agency (WASt) concluded that it violated Nazi legislation that required a case-by-case decision.

The first echelon of the Heerespersonalamt Abteilung P 5/Registratur (Army Personnel Office Department P 5/Registry) was relocated from Zossen in Brandenburg to Traunstein in Bavaria on this day and the confusion regarding who can be considered a legitimate Knight's Cross recipient began.

Beginning with Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the presentations were made at the Führer Headquarters "Wolf's Lair" in East Prussia, in the "Werwolf" near Vinnytsia in Ukraine, and at the Berghof.

[26] The Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR) (German language: Ordensgemeinschaft der Ritterkreuzträger des Eisernen Kreuzes e.V.

Later, the recipients of the Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross, or the Pour le Mérite for enlisted personnel, were included.