The Cross of Honour of the German Mother (German: Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter), referred to colloquially as the Mutterehrenkreuz (Mother's Cross of Honour) or simply Mutterkreuz (Mother's Cross), was a state decoration conferred by the government of the German Reich[1][2] to honour a Reichsdeutsche German mother for exceptional merit to the German nation.[2][3][4] Eligibility later extended to include Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) mothers from, for example, Austria and Sudetenland, that had earlier been incorporated into the German Reich.[4]