The companion piece for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the award document or "Urkunde" was meant to accompany every Knight's Cross, but the logistics of bestowing the award made this impossible; while the Cross could be pre-made in small batches and kept on hand until needed, each document needed to be prepared by hand for the recipient. Typically, the winner would get their Cross with a "Preliminary Certificate", a pre-printed, typed out and ink stamped document meant to serve as a placeholder until the real deal could arrive. Hand calligraphed and gold leafed by a single source provider, the typical recipient would wait a long time for the Urkunde, if they ever got it. Produced from a single sheet of folded parchment and presented in a leather folio bearing the maker's mark of Frieda Thierach, aka "Hitler's Bookbinder", this certificate is made out to Panzer Feldwebel Friedrich Banach with a date of November 30, 1942 and the signature of Adolf Hitler (NOTE: though Hitler is known to have hand-signed many of these certificates, this may be a machine-signed facsimile). A veteran of Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Balkans and France, Banach had earned all the subordinate ranks of the Iron Cross when he participated in a combat action on the Eastern Front, knocking out 5 tanks to stall a Soviet assault, destroyed a scout car sent to inspect the scene of battle, and then led a strike through the enemy line to disrupt their leadership. The award was authorized on November 30th, 1942, and the medal presented on December 17th. It is unlikely that he received the certificate before his death in combat on February 23, 1943.

The folio is very fine with some wear on the edges and scattered scuffing on the exterior. The string meant to retain the certificate inside the folio is detached but present. The certificate itself is very good with some light staining on the exterior, a small amount of transfer of color from the calligraphed section to the opposite side of the fold, and a small amount of warping. The lettering and decoration is all sharply executed with 95% plus original gold on the name and strong inking overall.