acepilots.com banner

German Medals Main Page

Mother's Cross in bronze

Mother's Cross bronze

A Nazi Mutterkreuz family

Nazi political director Reichel (from Erdmannsdorf in Saxony) with his wife and twelve children. The mother wears the Mutterkreuz. Three military-age sons are in the German army and three in the Navy. A teen-age son is the Reich Labor Service. The younger children are all in Nazi youth organizations. August 13, 1943. [Scherl Image Service]

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J15063 / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de], via Wikimedia Commons

German Women's Pins, Crosses, Brooches

for Party membership, service, etc.

By , Nov. 2008. Updated July 14, 2011.

The Cross of Honor of the German Mother (German: Ehrenkreuz der deutschen Mutter or more colloquially Mutterkreuz), but often referred to simply as the Mothers Cross, was an award of the Nazi regime.

This award was instituted on December 16, 1938 as part of Hitler's initiative to encourage Aryan population growth, and so only women with pure Aryan families could achieve such awards. Women from absorbed Germanic countries (such as Austria and Danzig) were also eligible. A mother could be awarded a bronze, silver, or gold cross depending on the number of children she had born. Eight would entitle the woman to a gold cross, six for silver, and four for bronze.

The crosses were awarded annually on August 12 (Hitler's mother's birthday), and the second Sunday in May (Mothering Sunday), hence the first of these were not awarded until 1939.

Mother's Cross in silver - Mother's Cross silver

Mother's Cross in gold - Mother's Cross gold

DAF Woman's brooch - DAF Woman's brooch

Deutscher Frauenhilfsdienst - Deutscher Frauenhilfsdienst (enameled)

Member's Badge of the German Women's Work - Member's Badge of the German Women's Work

MRAD Woman's brooch bronze - RAD Woman's brooch bronze

Nat. Soz. Frauenschaft pin - Nat. Soz. Frauenschaft pin