Alvin Eichorst (@AEichorst47312)

The "Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross" was the highest military honor of the Kingdom of Prussia and of the German Empire. It was considered a senior decoration of the lesser "Grand Cross of the Iron Cross." It was only awarded to the most outstanding generals who performed significant feats of leadership to the extreme benefit of the Prussian, and later, German state. - Only awarded twice a full century apart. First to Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard von Blücher in 1815 for his pivotal role in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic Wars. And second to Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg on 25 March 1918 for his conduct in the 1918 German Spring Offensive in World War I (also known as the Ludendorff Offensive). Hindenburg had previously received the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross in December 1916. - The award is popularly referred to as "Blücher's Cross" in reference to its first recipient. A World War II version of the Star was devised but never formally established or awarded. Following the "Allied" victories in 1945, the US Army seized the only known protype of the new Cross which has been stored in a secret bunker. It is now an exhibit in the collection of the Museum of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. #military #politics #wartime #nationalsocialism #germany #knowledgeispower