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Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter [Cross of Honor of the German Mother] medal, 3rd Class Order, Bronze Cross

Object | Accession Number: 2007.243.1

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Overview

Brief Narrative: Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter [Cross of Honor of the German Mother] medal was instituted by the Nazi Party in 1938 as a propaganda measure to promote National Socialist population policy. This medal is a 3rd class order, Bronze Cross. There were three classes of medal: gold, for eight or more children, silver, for six to seven children, and bronze for four to five children. Recipients were nominated by Nazi Party or government officials and had to be pure Germans, of good character, politically and socially. The first awards were in 1939 to some 3 million German mothers, the last in 1944.
Date: commemoration: 1938 December 16
Geography: issue: Germany
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of an Anonymous Donor
Markings: front, around the swastika, embossed : DER DEUTSCHEN MUTTER [THE GERMAN MOTHER]

Physical Details

Language: German
Classification: Awards
Category: Medals
Object Type: Medals, German (lcsh)
Genre/Form: Medals
Physical Description: Bronze, cross pattee styled medal with an elongated lower arm. In the center is a black enamel swastika on a white circular field surrounded by raised, bronze-colored German text. A square, bronze sunburst emanates from the circle, filling the space between the cross arms. The arms are blue enamel with a white border. A ribbon with a central wide blue stripe flanked by narrow white, blue, white stripes is threaded through a rectangular metal loop on the top of the cross. It is not sewn closed. There is text engraved on the reverse.
Dimensions: overall: Height: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm)
Materials: overall : metal, ribbon, enamel paint
Inscription: reverse, engraved : 16. / Dezember / 1938 / Adolf Hitler [in cursive]

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use: No restrictions on use

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Nazi propaganda. National socialism and women. Mothers--Germany--History--20th century. Population policy--Political aspects--Germany. Women--Germany--History--20th century.
Geographic Name: Germany--Population policy--Medals.
Corporate Name: Nazi Party

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The Mother's Cross medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by an anonymous donor.

Record last modified:: 2023-09-26 08:49:05
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn524220

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