User:Bkatcher/list of living knights cross of the iron cross recipients

The following is a list of living Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients.

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 September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of June 3, 1940.

In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

The total number of recipients of the Knight's Cross is 7,366. Of these 890 individuals received Oak Leaves; 160 received Oak Leaves and Swords. Only 27 men were awarded the Diamonds grade of the Knight's Cross; Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds.

Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds

 * Sole recipient: Hans-Ulrich Rudel (Luftwaffe), 1916–1982

Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds

 * Last living Kriegsmarine recipient: Albrecht Brandi, 1914–1966
 * Last living Waffen-SS recipient: Herbert Otto Gille, 1897–1966
 * Last living Heer recipient: Hermann Balck, 1897–1982
 * Last living Luftwaffe recipient: Adolf Galland, 1912–1996

Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

 * Last living Waffen-SS recipient: Otto Kumm, 1909–2004
 * Last living Kriegsmarine recipient: Erich Topp, 1914–2005
 * Last living Heer recipient: Waldemar von Gazen, 1917–2014
 * Last living Luftwaffe recipient: Erich Rudorffer, 1917–2016

Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

 * Last living non-German recipient: Léon Degrelle, 1906–1994
 * Last living Waffen-SS recipient: Walter Girg, 1919–2010
 * Last living Heer recipient: Gerhard Simons, 1921–2015
 * Last living Kriegsmarine recipient: Reinhard Hardegen, 1913–2018
 * Last living Luftwaffe recipient: Heinz Rökker, 1920–2018

Knight's Cross (2 of 7384)
This list is not complete. People listed are alive or survived the war but their fate is unknown.
 * Last living recipient from outside the German Reich: Søren Kam, Denmark, 1921–2015
 * Last living Kriegsmarine recipient: Alfred Eick, 1916–2015
 * Last living Waffen-SS recipient: Rudolf von Ribbentrop, 1921–2019
 * Last living recipient from outside Germany: Johann Trummer, Austria, 1920–2022