Episode 2 of 2

First Actual Award to Borcke

When: 21 April 1813
Where: Berlin
Part of: Prussia declares war on France and institutes the Iron Cross

The first actual Iron Cross was awarded to Karl August Ferdinand von Borcke on 21 April 1813.

While the award was established in March, the first physical presentation occurred on 21 April 1813 to Karl August Ferdinand von Borcke. This marked the transition from the symbolic backdating to actual military recognition.

Sources

Iron Cross Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.