Bezirksleiter (District Leader) was a Nazi Party title which was used in the early years of the Party's existence, beginning around 1926.
Bezirksleiter (District Leader) was a Nazi Party title which was used in the early years of the Party's existence, beginning around 1926.
The position of Bezirksleiter was originally established around 1926 as the next higher organizational official overseeing several local branches (Ortsgruppen) of the Party. As such, the Bezirksleiter served as the intermediary between the local Party heads ( Ortsgruppenleiter ) and the head of the Gau organization ( Gauleiter ). The number of Bezirkleiters in each Gau, if any, depended on the size of the Gau, and their jurisdictions were not necessarily coterminous with existing governmental units.
At a January 1929 Party Conference held in Weimar, Gregor Strasser, the Reichsorganisationsleiter, authorized the Gauleiters to subdivide their Gaue into districts if the organizational strength of the Gau justified this change. [1] The subdivisions were based on the Kreis , the standard administrative unit existing in the German States, roughly analogous to a county. With this organizational restructuring, the Bezirksleiter began to be phased out, to be replaced by the Kreisleiter as the standardized intermediate administrative level between the Gauleitung (Gau leadership) and the local Party branches.
Many of the early Bezirksleiters advanced to the position of Gauleiter, such as Franz Schwede, Gustav Simon, Jakob Sprenger, Josef Terboven and Karl Wahl to name but a few. [2]
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 to the Führer himself. The position was effectively abolished with the fall of the Nazi regime on 8 May 1945.
Jakob Sprenger was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the Party's Gauleiter of Hesse-Nassau South from 1927 to 1933 and Gau Hesse-Nassau from 1933 to 1945. He was also the Reichsstatthalter and Minister-President of the People's State of Hesse, the Oberpräsident of the Prussian Province of Nassau and an SA-Obergruppenführer.
Josef Wagner was from 1931 the Nazi Gauleiter of Gau Westphalia-South and, as of December 1934, also of Gau Silesia. In 1941 he was dismissed from his offices, then expelled from the Nazi Party (NSDAP), imprisoned by the Gestapo, and likely executed around the time of end of the war in Europe.
Hermann Muhs was a German lawyer and Nazi Party politician who served as State Secretary and leader of the Reich Ministry for Church Affairs in Nazi Germany.
Gau Swabia formed on 1 October 1928, was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Swabia, Bavaria, from 1933 to 1945. From 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Munich–Upper Bavaria was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Upper Bavaria from 1933 to 1945. From 1930 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Westmark was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. From 1925 to 1933, it was a regional subdivision of the Nazi Party.
Gau East Prussia was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the province of East Prussia in the Free State of Prussia from 1933 to 1945. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area, having been established at a conference in Königsberg on 6 December 1925. In 1939, Gau East Prussia expanded following the annexation of the Klaipėda Region from Lithuania and the occupation of Poland, while a sliver of territory from the gau was transferred to Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. After Germany's attack on the USSR, the Belarusian city of Hrodna also became part of the Gau.
The Reichsgau Salzburg was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Salzburg, Austria. It existed between 1938 and 1945.
The Gau Thuringia formed on 6 April 1925, was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in the Free State of Thuringia from 1933 to 1945. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Westphalia-North was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the Free State of Lippe, the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe and the northern half of the Prussian province of Westphalia between 1933 and 1945. From 1931 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party for these areas.
Emil Stürtz was a German Nazi Party official and politician who served as the Gauleiter in Brandenburg from 1936 to 1945.
The Gau Baden, renamed Gau Baden–Alsace in March 1941, was a de facto administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the German state of Baden and, from 1940 onwards, in Alsace. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Halle-Merseburg was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the Prussian Province of Saxony. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Essen was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the northern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province. Before that, from 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Hesse-Nassau was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was formed by the merger of two separate Gaue comprising the People's State of Hesse and the southern parts of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau that were, from 1927 to 1933, the regional subdivisions of the Nazi Party in those areas.
The Gau Electoral Hesse was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, comprising the northern part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Formed in 1926 as Gau Anhalt-North Saxony Province, it comprised the German state of Anhalt and part of the Prussian province of Saxony. It was renamed Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt on 1 October 1928. From 1926 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
The Gau Berlin was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the German capital Berlin. Before that, from 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area. From 1926 to 1928 Berlin was part of the Gau Berlin-Brandenburg which was split into two separate Gaue on 1 October 1928.
Ludolf Haase was a Nazi Party official who served as Gauleiter in Southern Hanover from 1925 to 1928.