List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (Ba–Bm)

The Knight's Cross of the Iron 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 extreme gallantry.

[1] Presentations were made to members of the three military branches of the Wehrmacht—the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy) and Luftwaffe (Air Force)—as well as the Waffen-SS, the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD—Reich Labour Service) and the Volkssturm (German national militia).

Analysis and acceptance of the order commission of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR) indicates that up to 7,321 awards may have been made between its first presentation on 30 September 1939 and its last bestowal on 17 June 1945.

In 2007, Veit Scherzer published his Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945].

The majority of the disputed recipients were listed as having received the award in 1945, when the deteriorating situation of the Third Reich during the final days of World War II left a number of nominations incomplete and pending in various stages of the approval process.

[11] The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) kept separate Knight's Cross lists, one for each of the three military branches, Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and for the Waffen-SS.

(question mark) indicates that historian Veit Scherzer has expressed doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.

A silver framed black cross that has arms which are narrow at the center, and broader at the perimeter. In the middle of the cross is a swastika, an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles. On the lower arm of the cross are the number 1939 engraved. The cross is connected to a ribbon with a silver clip. The ribbon has a red central stripe, flanked in white and with a black edge stripe.