Iron Cross was classless award maybe?
As are the Victoria Cross and the George Cross, which are awarded regardless of rank or status.
The Iron Cross started that way when it started in 1813, although it was awarded in two classes, first and second. One of the few good things you could say about Hitler is that unlike most dictators he didn't cover himself with self awarded medals, but only ever wore the Iron Cross, 1st Class, which he won as a gefreiter (lance corporal) in 1918. A curious aside is that the officer who recommended the award was Jewish.
By the time the Nazis got hold of it, the Iron Cross was expanded from a simple all ranks award to the situation where the various grades went:
Iron Cross second class
Iron Cross first class
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves and swords
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with gold oak leaves, swords and diamonds
and finally
Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, (sole recipient one Hermann Goering!)
So you can see, whatever the original intention, in its WW2 form the Iron Cross was far from classless, and you can bet there were no
gefreiters wearing the Knight's Cross in any of its variations.
When I was at university I did a dissertation on Soviet Orders and Medals, and like all dictatorships they were as bad as the Nazis. They had a complex system of awards each with various grades, which mirrored the old czarist awards which followed their ranks of nobility. Best example these days is North Korea, and no doubt someone will oblige with that well-known picture of a bunch of North Korean generals plastered with medals from top to toe!