A Gauleiter () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a Gau or Reichsgau. Gauleiter was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to Reichsleiter and the Führer, himself. The position was effectively abolished with the fall of the Nazi regime on 8 May 1945.
History and development Origin and early years
The first use of the term Gauleiter by the Nazi Party was in 1925 around the time Adolf Hitler re-founded the Party on 27 February, after the lifting of the ban that had been imposed on it in the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch of 9 November 1923. The word can be singular or plural in German usage, depending on its context, and derives from the German words Gau and leiter (leader). The word Gau is an old term for a region of the German Reich (Empire). The Frankish Realm and the Holy Roman Empire were both subdivided into Gaue (the plural form of Gau) which corresponds roughly with the English word "shire." It is still in use today as a generic component in the names of some regions mainly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. (see: Gau Legacy).
In its formative years, local political activists organized the Party at the municipal level in their home areas. In effect, they were self-selected or had won out in local struggles for control. Though they were required to be approved by Hitler, this was usually a formality in these early years when he was still banned from speaking throughout most of Germany and had to rely on these homegrown leaders to organize the Party at the grass roots. In fact, it was not uncommon for local branch leaders to be selected by the Party members themselves. This was not officially prohibited by Hitler until 1929. By creating the position of Gauleiter, Hitler provided a means for him to exert more direct control over the local Party organizations. The Gauleiter was placed in charge of a specified geographical jurisdiction consisting of several Ortsgruppe (Local Groups).
The Gaue did not necessarily mirror the existing administrative or electoral divisions within the Weimar Republic. In these early years (1925–1927) it was not unusual for the local and regional organizations to be divided, dissolved, merged and renamed as the Party struggled to develop an improved organizational structure.
The number of Gaue fluctuated over the years. In 1928 there were 35 and by the end of the Nazi regime there were 43, including the non-territorial Gau Auslands-Organisation that represented Germans abroad.
The Gauleiters were appointed by Hitler (though in the earliest years Gregor Strasser had provisionally selected some in Northern Germany who still had to be confirmed in their position by Hitler). They were personally responsible to Hitler, served at his pleasure and were subject to immediate dismissal, but otherwise could not be removed without his consent. They were his personal representatives to the Gau and were, in effect, his viceroys in Party matters.
The Organization Book of the NSDAP described the Gauleiter’s relationship to Hitler in this manner:
The Gauleiter is directly subordinate to the Führer. He is appointed by the Führer. The Gauleiter bears overall responsibility to the Führer for the sector of sovereignty entrusted to him. The rights, duties, and jurisdiction of the Gauleiter result primarily from the mission assigned by the Führer and, apart from that, from detailed directives.Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Chapter XV, p. 29
Gauleiters were the regional heads of the Nazi Party's Political Organization and headed the Gauleitung (Gau Leadership) office. The responsibility and function of the Gauleiter was to ensure the authority of the Nazi Party within his area, to coordinate the activities of the Party and all its affiliated organizations, and to enlarge the influence of the Party over people and life in his Gau.Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Chapter XV, p. 29
However, Gauleiters did not have direct supervisory control over the Gau paramilitary personnel, such as the Sturmabteilung (SA) or the Schutzstaffel (SS). In addition, subordinate Gau officials such as the Propaganda Leader, the Agricultural Expert and others owed a dual allegiance to the Gauleiter in their particular geographic area and to the head of the affiliate organization for their specific policy area at the national level. This made the Gauleiter’s coordination and control of all Party activities difficult and, at times, conflictive.
The authority of the Gauleiter extended down through the Party organization to all members through a strict vertical chain of command. The Gauleiter had direct authority over the Kreisleiters (County Leaders) who administered some 650 Kreise in Germany proper (913 at the height of expansion after 1941) and were established as an intermediary level between the Gauleiter and the local leaders in early 1929. These Kreisleiters in turn directed the Ortsgruppenleiters who oversaw towns or villages or part of a larger city, usually 1500 to 3000 households. Ortsgruppenleiters directed Zellenleiters (Cell Leaders) responsible for 160 to 480 households. Zellenleiters supervised the lowest local leaders, Blockleiters (Block Leaders) each of whom had charge of 40 to 60 households.Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume 1, Chapter VI Retrieved 17 September 2021
As the Party evolved its goal from revolutionary overthrow of the Weimar Republic to obtaining power through constitutional means, tactics for obtaining electoral success became paramount. In 1928, in preparation for more effectively contesting the upcoming Reichstag election, a major reorganization took place and most Gaue boundaries were adjusted to correspond with the existing Reichstag electoral constituencies, though a handful continued to be idiosyncratic. The role of the Gauleiters also evolved to become more administrative, involved in propaganda, organization and electioneering. Success was measured in terms of increased Party membership and voter turnout.
At the local level, Gauleiters often were elected as city councilors, as mayors and as deputies to the Landtags of the German States (Länder) where they headed the Nazi Party parliamentary faction. The first State to install its Gauleiter as Minister-president was Oldenburg on 16 June 1932, followed by Thuringia on 26 August 1932. Once in office, they proceeded to politicize all aspects of life within their control, and staffed civil service positions solely with candidates previously screened and approved by Party functionaries.
In July 1932, Strasser, now the Party Reichsorganisationsleiter (National Organization Leader) attempted to impose an additional centralized control over the Gauleiters. Therefore, they were subordinated to ten new officials with the title of Landesinspektor, mainly drawn from among the Gauleiter corps, each in charge of several Gaue within a larger geographic area. This intermediate level of bureaucracy limited Gauleiters''' access to Hitler and they chafed under this new arrangement, which they saw as an attempt by Strasser to undermine their special relationship with Hitler.
This reorganization was short-lived and was repealed on 15 December 1932, after Strasser's resignation in a policy dispute with Hitler over whether to join in a national coalition government as a junior partner or to hold out for the Chancellorship. Hitler then reemphasized the special relationship between himself and the Gauleiters and they resumed their direct access to him.
After the Nazi seizure of power
On 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party took power and established the state of Nazi Germany. At the national government level, Hitler selected two Gauleiters to also become Reichsministers of two of the new ministries that he established: the Reich Ministry of Propaganda in March 1933 (Joseph Goebbels) and the Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture in May 1934 (Bernhard Rust).
As for regional governments, the Gauleiters quickly became the key agents in extending Nazi control over the German States (Länder) and Prussian provincial governments. Gauleiters soon obtained unquestioned authority in their jurisdiction. Party control over the civil administration became institutionalized when in most (but not all) cases the Gauleiter was appointed to the supreme civil administrative post in his area. Under the "Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich" of 7 April 1933, the new position of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) was created. Given broad powers, this official was charged with ensuring State compliance with the policies of the Reich central government, and was described by Hitler as a "viceroy of the Reich." Hitler staffed these posts almost exclusively with Gauleiters. Similarly, in the Prussian provinces, the Oberpräsident (High President) positions also were largely taken over by Gauleiters. Most Gauleiters thus united under their control the highest Party and governmental offices in their jurisdictions. However, since all Party Gau boundaries and State/provincial boundaries still did not necessarily coincide, this arrangement sometimes led to overlapping jurisdictions and added to the administrative conflict typical of Nazi Germany.
On 2 June 1933 Hitler created the new political rank of Reichsleiter (Reich Leader) in the Nazi Party and conferred it on 16 individuals with areas of broad national policy responsibility (e.g., propaganda, agriculture, the press, youth education). Gauleiter then became the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, just below Reichsleiter. Importantly, however, the Reichsleiters were not given direct line authority over the Gauleiters who continued to have direct access to Hitler and remained his personal agents in the Gaue.
After the Anschluss with Austria (12 March 1938) and the seizure of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia (30 September 1938) the newly annexed territories were eventually organized into eight Reichsgaue and placed under the administration of Reichsstatthalters, all of whom were also the local Gauleiters. As in Germany proper, they controlled, in personal union, Party and State leadership. Several former leaders of the previously outlawed Austrian and Czechoslovak Nazi parties, in recognition of their past services, were accorded the title of Gauleiter ehrenhalber (honorary Gauleiter), which carried no Gaue assignments or responsibilities.
The Gauleiters were responsible for executing all the Party's policies, including its racial discrimination and persecution policies against the Jewish populace. One of the most infamous pogroms of the Nazi era, the Kristallnacht of 9–10 November 1938, had its origin at a meeting of the Nazi Party hierarchy in Munich commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. During the meeting, in response to the news of the assassination by a Jew of a German diplomat in Paris, Joseph Goebbels gave such an inflammatory address against the Jews that it sent the assembled Gauleiters rushing to the telephones to order punitive riots in their Gaue. On their orders, their local Political Organizations, together with SA members, unleashed an orgy of violence, arson, looting and destruction, resulting in deaths, injuries and massive property loss among Germany's Jewish population.
World War II
On the launching of World War II in Europe on 1 September 1939, fifteen Gauleiters were appointed Reich Defense Commissioners (Reichsverteidigungskommissar) one in each military district (Wehrkreis) of Germany and Austria. They were charged with organizing civil defense and mobilization activities, including air defense and evacuation. They also oversaw wartime rationing measures and efforts to control the black market. Again, due to the additional overlapping and incongruent territorial jurisdictions, this contributed to ongoing jurisdictional squabbles.