Germany, Wehrmacht. A Cased 1939 Iron Cross I Class, By C.f. Zimmermann, From The Dietrich Maerz Collection Hold the maker's name and part

the maker's name and part of "STERLING" scratched out on the reverse

He had a great deal of domestic trouble and had applied for compassionate leave two years previous to October 1944

while the rear is single-vented with two gray metal buttons on either side of the venting

two loops on the reverse for uniform attachment

with an oak wreath on the cross

Germany, Wehrmacht. A Cased 1939 Iron Cross I Class, By C.f. Zimmermann, From The Dietrich Maerz Collection Hold the maker's name and part(Eisernes Kreuz 1939 I. Klasse mit Etui). Reinstituted 1 September 1939. (1939 1945 issue). Constructed of iron and silver, consisting of a Cross Patte with a blackened magnetic iron core within a ribbed silver frame, the obverse with a central mobile swastika, the six oclock arm with a reinstitution date of 1939, the reverse with a barrel hinge and vertical pinback meeting a flat wire catch, the pinback marked on the reverse with code 20 for maker C.