The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military of Nazi Germany during World War II. 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). There were also 43 recipients in the military forces of allies of Nazi Germany.^[2]

There is currently no official German Government list of KC recipients. 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.^{[Note 1]} These recipients are listed in the 1986 edition of Walther-Peer Fellgiebel's book, Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 . Fellgiebel was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and was also the former chairman and head of the order commission of the AKCR. In 1996, a second edition of this book was published with an addendum delisting 11 of the recipients.

In 2007, Veit Scherzer published his Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 . Scherzer's book was compiled from documents held by the German Federal Archives, and cast doubt on 193 of the listings in Fellgiebel's 1996 book. 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.^[4]

Listed here are the 368 Knight's Cross recipients of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS whose last name is in the range "Ba–Bm".^[5] Scherzer has challenged the validity of 13 of these listings.^[6] This is the first of two lists of all 725 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients whose last name starts with "B". The recipients whose last name is in the range "Bn–Bz" are listed at List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (Bn–Bz).^[7]

Background

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment, Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 instituted the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz), the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). Article 2 of the enactment mandated that the award of a higher class be preceded by the award of all preceding classes.^[8] As the war progressed, some of the recipients of the Knight's Cross distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub), was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940.^[9] In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 introduced the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten).^[10] At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944, became the final variant of the Knight's Cross authorized.^[11]

Recipients

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. Within each of these lists a unique sequential number was assigned to each recipient. The same numbering paradigm was applied to the higher grades of the Knight's Cross, one list per grade.^[12] Of the 368 awards made to servicemen whose last name is in the range "Ba–Bm", 31 were later awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, 12 the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and one the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds; 19 presentations were made posthumously. Heer members received 232 of the medals; 15 went to the Kriegsmarine, 100 to the Luftwaffe, and 21 to the Waffen-SS.^[5] The sequential numbers greater than 843 for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and 143 for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords are unofficial and were assigned by the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR) and are therefore denoted in parentheses.^[13] The recipients are initially ordered alphabetically by last name. The rank listed is the recipient's rank at the time the Knight's Cross was awarded.

  This along with the + (plus) indicates that a higher grade of Knight's Cross was awarded as well.
  This along with the * (asterisk) indicates that the Knight's Cross was awarded posthumously.
  This along with the ? (question mark) indicates that historian Veit Scherzer has expressed doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.

Name	Service	Rank	Role and unit[Note 2]	Date of award	Notes	Image
Karl Baacke+	Heer	14-HHauptmann[14]	Chief of the 2./Infanterie-Regiment 124[14]	30 June 1941[14]	Awarded 352nd Oak Leaves 10 December 1943[14]	—
Ernst-Günther Baade+	Heer	17-HOberst[14]	Commander of Schützen-Regiment 115[14]	27 June 1942[14]	Awarded 402nd Oak Leaves 22 February 1944 111th Swords 16 November 1944[14]
Heinz Baader	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[14]	In the Nahaufklärungsgruppe 5[14]	26 April 1945[14]	—	—
Sophus Baagoe	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[15]	Pilot in the 5./Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel"[15][16]	14 June 1941*[15]	Killed in action 14 May 1941[15]	—
Werner Baake	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[15]	Staffelkapitän of the 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1[17][Source 1]	27 July 1944[15]	—	—
Johannes Baasch	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[15]	Chief of the 9./Infanterie-Regiment 410[15][16]	3 May 1942[15]	—	—
Hans Baasner	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[15]	Pilot and observer in the 3./Fernaufklärungs-Gruppe 121[17][Source 2]	11 March 1943[17][Source 2]	—	—
Wilhelm Bach	Heer	14-HHauptmann of the Reserves[15]	Commander of the I./Schützen-Regiment 104[15][16]	9 July 1941[15]	—	—
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski	Waffen-SS	20-WSS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Police[15]	Commanding general of the Korpsgruppe "von dem Bach" in Warsaw[15]	30 September 1944[15]	—
Erich Bachem	Heer	12-HLeutnant[15]	Artillery observer in the IV./Artillerie-Regiment 262[15]	6 January 1942[15]	—	—
Rudolf Bacherer+	Heer	17-HOberst of the Reserves[15]	Commander of Grenadier-Regiment 234[15]	30 October 1943[15]	Awarded 550th Oak Leaves 11 August 1944[15]	—
Friedrich Bachmaier[Note 3]	Heer	14-HHauptmann of the Reserves[15]	Commander of the III./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 100[15]	9 January 1945[15]	—	—
Ludwig Bachmaier	Heer	14-HHauptmann of the Reserves[15]	Leader of the I./Infanterie-Regiment 179[15]	26 December 1941[15]	—	—
Christian Bachmann	Waffen-SS	14-WSS-Hauptsturmführer[15]	Leader of the II./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 "Thule"[15]	28 February 1945[15]	—	—
Erwin Bachmann	Waffen-SS	13-WSS-Obersturmführer[17][Source 3]	Adjutant of the I./SS-Panzer-Regiment 10 "Frundsberg"[15][17]	10 February 1945[15]	—	—
Fritz Bachmann	Heer	04-HObergefreiter[18]	In the 1./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 7[17][18]	5 April 1945[18]	—	—
Josef Bachmeier	Waffen-SS	14-WSS-Hauptsturmführer[18]	Leader of the II./Freiwilligen-SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 "Norge"[17][Source 4]	23 August 1944[18]	—	—
Herbert Bachnick	Luftwaffe	09-LFahnenjunker-Feldwebel[18]	Pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52[18][19]	27 July 1944[18]	—	—
Willy Bachor?[Dispute 1]	Heer	10-HOberwachtmeister[17]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 12./Panzer-Regiment 24[17]	11 May 1945[17]	—	—
Hans-Ulrich Back	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[18]	Commander of the I./Schützen-Regiment 2[18][19]	5 August 1940[18]	—	—
Fritz Backhauss	Heer	14-HHauptmann[18]	Commander of the III./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 13[18][19]	8 February 1944[18]	—	—
Kurt Bade	Heer	06-HUnteroffizier[18]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 4./Panzer-Auklärungs-Abteilung 23[18][19]	26 August 1943[18]	—	—
Edwin Bader	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[18]	Observer in the 2./Nahaufklärungs-Gruppe 16[18][19]	26 March 1944[18]	—	—
Friedrich Bader	Heer	15-HMajor[18]	Commander of Hochgebirgs-Jäger-Bataillon 3[18][19]	12 August 1944[18]	—	—
Josef Bader	Heer	14-HHauptmann[18]	Commander of the II./Grenadier-Regiment 95[18][19]	23 August 1943[18]	—	—
Curt Badinski	Heer	17-HOberst[18]	Commander of Infanterie-Regiment 489[18][19]	11 October 1941[18]	—	—
Emil Badorrek+	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[18]	Staffelkapitän of the 4./Fernaufklärungs-Gruppe 11[19][Source 5]	22 November 1943[18]	Awarded 652nd Oak Leaves 18 November 1944[18]	—
Johann Badum	Luftwaffe	12-LLeutnant[18]	Pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 77[18][19]	15 October 1942[18]	—
Alfred Badzong	Heer	03-HGefreiter[21]	Machine gunner in the 1./Grenadier-Regiment 273[21][22]	5 February 1945[21]	—	—
Rudolf Bäcker	Heer	09-HSanitäts-Feldwebel[21]	In the Stab of the II./Grenadier-Regiment 36[19][21]	18 September 1943[21]	—	—
Wilhelm Bäder	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[21]	Chief of the 8./Grenadier-Regiment 958[21][22]	14 April 1945*[21]	Killed in action 22 March 1945[19]	—
Dr. med. dent. Franz Bäke+	Heer	15-HMajor of the Reserves[21]	Commander of the II./Panzer-Regiment 11[19][21]	11 January 1943[21]	Awarded 262nd Oak Leaves 1 August 1943 49th Swords 21 February 1944[21]
Bern von Baer+	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant im Generalstab (in the General Staff)[21]	Ia (operations officer) of the 16. Panzer-Division[19][21]	13 January 1944[21]	Awarded 761st Oak Leaves 28 February 1945[21]
Heinrich (Heinz) Bär+	Luftwaffe	12-LLeutnant[19][Source 6]	Pilot in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 51[19][21]	2 July 1941[21]	Awarded 31st Oak Leaves 14 August 1941 7th Swords 16 February 1942[21]
Erich Bärenfänger+	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[21]	Leader of the III./Infanterie-Regiment 123[21][22]	7 August 1942[21]	Awarded 243rd Oak Leaves 17 May 1943 45th Swords 23 January 1944[21]	—
Hansgeorg Bätcher+	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[21]	Staffelkapitän of the 1./Kampfgeschwader 100[19][21]	21 December 1942[21]	Awarded 434th Oak Leaves 24 March 1944[21]	—
Niels Bätge	Kriegsmarine	14-MKapitänleutnant[21]	Chief of the 4. Schnellbootflottille[19][21]	4 January 1942[21]	—	—
Johann Bäuchl[Source 7]	Heer	10-HOberfeldwebel[23]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 5./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33[19][23]	23 October 1944[23]	—	—
Emil Bäuerle	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[21]	Chief of the 8./Jäger-Regiment 56[19][21]	4 May 1944[21]	—	—
Gottfried Bäumler	Heer	06-HUnteroffizier[21]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 11./Grenadier-Regiment 41 (motorized)[21][24]	14 May 1944[21]	—	—
Heinz Bäumler	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[23]	Leader of the 6./Artillerie-Regiment 17[23][24]	11 June 1944[23]	—	—
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