The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross was a decoration intended for victorious generals of the Prussian Army and its allies. It was the highest class of the Iron Cross. Along with the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the Grand Cross was founded on March 10, 1813, during the Napoleonic Wars. It was renewed in 1870 for the Franco-Prussian War and again in 1914 for World War I. In 1939, when Adolf Hitler renewed the Iron Cross as a German, rather than Prussian, decoration, the Grand Cross was again renewed.
The Grand Cross of the Iron Cross was twice the size of the Iron Cross and was worn from a ribbon around the neck. The later Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, instituted in 1939, was also worn from the neck; it was smaller than the Grand Cross but larger than the Iron Cross.
Read more about Grand Cross Of The Iron Cross: 1813 Grand Cross, 1870 Grand Cross, 1914 Grand Cross, 1939 Grand Cross
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Indian proverb, quoted in Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, ch. 30, “From the Notebooks” (1987)
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Sam Spade: The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.”
—John Huston (1906–1987)