Heer Ritterkreuz Award Ceremony

1940

Ritterkreuz award ceremony for Oberleutnant Wilhelm Walther (Stosstruppführer in 4.Kompanie / Baulehrbataillon z.b.V. 800) which were held after the end of the Battle of France, summer 1940. Walther received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 June 1940 for capturing a strategic bridge at Gennep during the assault on the Netherlands. Leading an 8-man team disguised as Dutch military police escorting German prisoners, they made their assault seizing the bridge and disabling the detonators. Other pictures from this award ceremony can be seen HERE.

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1941


Oberstleutnant der Reserve Ferdinand Schneider-Kostalski (1908-1944) was born on 20 July 1908 in Judenburg in the Steiermark of Austria-Hungary and was killed in action on 7 August 1944 at Bellefontaine in France. He joined the German Army and served from November 1938 with the 3. Panzer-Division. In September 1939 he was Chef of the 2. Kompanie of the I. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment 6. By 1941 he had risen to Kommandeur of the III. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment 6. On 22 June 1941, the opening day of Operation Barbarossa, he distinguished himself as Abteilungskommandeur when the bridge over the Muchawiec was completely destroyed. Through personal reconnaissance he discovered an alternative crossing point that allowed his entire Abteilung to cross the river, an action of decisive importance for the subsequent advance on Kobryn. During the continued forward march his Abteilung destroyed a large number of enemy tanks and captured numerous artillery pieces and anti-tank guns. Through his personal devotion to duty and bravery Hauptmann Schneider-Kostalski created the conditions for the swift advance of the entire 3. Panzer-Division. For these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 9 July 1941 as Hauptmann and Kommandeur of the III. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment 6. He later received the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse, the Panzerkampfabzeichen, the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz and Silber, the Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, the Krimschild and the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen in Silber. Promoted to Major with effect from 1 January 1942, he subsequently commanded Panzer-Abteilung 129 of the 29. Infanterie-Division (mot.) and later served with Panzer-Regiment 39. In late July 1944 he was appointed Kommandeur of Panzer-Regiment 3 of the 2. Panzer-Division and was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant. He fell in combat during the fighting in Normandy and is buried at the German War Cemetery Champigny-St.-André.



Leutnant Kurt Przyklenk (1912-1943) was born on 2 January 1912 in Deuben, Germany, and served in the Heer during the Second World War as a non-commissioned officer with the 14. Panzer-Division. He was assigned to Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 40, where he held the position of Spähtruppführer in the 1. Kompanie. During the early stages of Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1941, Przyklenk distinguished himself through repeated acts of bravery while leading reconnaissance patrols deep into enemy territory. On 1 August 1941 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes while serving as Oberfeldwebel and Spähtruppführer in the 1. Kompanie of Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 40 of the 14. Panzer-Division, the decoration recognizing extreme battlefield courage and successful leadership under combat conditions. He had previously received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse for earlier achievements. Przyklenk continued to serve with his unit through the subsequent campaigns of the 14. Panzer-Division, which advanced deep into the Soviet Union and later became embroiled in the fighting around Stalingrad. He was killed in action on 10 January 1943 during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Russian SFSR at the age of thirty-one. His service and decorations reflect the demanding role of armoured reconnaissance troops in the rapid advances and subsequent defensive struggles of the early Eastern Front campaigns.

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1943

Walter Neitzel (1913–1944), a highly decorated officer in the German Heer during World War II, earned his Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) through decisive leadership and personal bravery on the Eastern Front. Born on May 9, 1913, in Greifenberg, Pomerania, Neitzel, serving as Hauptmann and temporary commander (Führer) of the I. Battalion, Grenadier-Regiment 409 (part of the 122nd Infantry Division), distinguished himself in fierce defensive fighting near Ssemkina Goruschka in May 1943. At 02:00 on May 25, Soviet forces penetrated the right sector of the neighboring II. Battalion with two companies, creating a dangerous threat to the German flank. Neitzel swiftly organized and led a vigorous counterthrust with elements of his battalion; by 07:30, his forces had restored the line, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy—199 counted Soviet dead and 33 prisoners—while sustaining only four wounded in his own command. This action exemplified the close-quarters infantry combat and rapid maneuver typical of mid-war Eastern Front engagements, where small-unit leadership often turned the tide against numerically superior Red Army assaults. For this success, which stabilized the divisional sector amid the grueling battles around Leningrad and the Volkhov Front, Neitzel was awarded the Knight's Cross on 2 June 1943. In the Wehrmacht's tradition, the award ceremony for such a prestigious decoration—typically presented by a higher commander in the field or at a divisional headquarters shortly after the formal announcement—would have been a solemn yet morale-boosting event, with Neitzel likely standing before assembled troops or fellow officers as the black-white-red ribbon and silver-framed cross were pinned to his tunic, accompanied by a citation reading his deeds and perhaps a brief address honoring his "extreme battlefield bravery." Such ceremonies reinforced the cult of heroic leadership in the German army, often involving handshakes, salutes, and photographs for propaganda purposes, though frontline realities meant they were frequently austere affairs amid ongoing combat. Neitzel continued to excel, later earning the Eichenlaub (posthumously, as the 576th recipient on September 5, 1944, as Major) for a breakout action south of Riga in August 1944, but he succumbed to wounds received on August 26 and died on September 2, 1944, near Kaikasi, Latvia, at age 31; he was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant. His Ritterkreuz action and recognition underscored the intense, attritional nature of infantry command on the Ostfront, where individual initiative amid overwhelming odds defined the fate of many units.



Oberleutnant der Reserve Hans Lex (Chef 7.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment "Großdeutschland" / Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland") received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 September 1943. Previously, on 15 July 1943 during the German Operation Citadel on the Eastern Front, Oberleutnant d.R. Lex commanded a Kompanie of Panzer IV tanks that had been assigned a security role to the west of the main advance. While holding this position near Nowenskoje, Lex observed a Soviet tank assembly area forming in a location that posed a clear threat to the flank of German forces operating in the sector. Without waiting for higher orders or additional support, he independently decided to launch an immediate surprise attack with his Panzer IV Kompanie against the concentrating enemy armour. The sudden assault caught the Soviet tanks unprepared and unable to organise effective resistance; in the ensuing engagement Lex’s Panzers destroyed sixteen enemy tanks while suffering no losses of their own! This rapid and decisive action completely eliminated the potential flank threat at minimal cost to his unit and safeguarded the continued progress of neighbouring German formations. The success demonstrated exceptional situational awareness, initiative, and tactical leadership under combat conditions. For this feat of arms Lex was awarded the Ritterkreuz. The award recognised not only the material results of the engagement but also the personal boldness that allowed a single Kompanie to neutralise a significant enemy concentration through independent action during one of the largest armoured battles of the war.

Source :
"Brandenburger: Wartime Photographs of Wilhelm Walther" by Anthony Rogers