List of Gauleiters

The following List of Gauleiters enumerates those who have held the Nazi party rank of Gauleiter, a type of regional party leader germane only within Adolf Hitler's system.

Of the 44 former Gauleiter of the NSDAP thirteen committed suicide when Nazi Germany surrendered, eight were executed by the allies after the war, one was executed by the SS and one died in Soviet captivity. By 1954, when Karl Wahl became the first former Gauleiter to publish his memoirs, eight were still missing, three in jail and the remaining ten were free men.^[1]

List

The list of Gaue and Gauleiters, with their time in office in brackets:^[2][3][4]

Imprisioned, later released and died a free man

Died in captivity, except suicide or execution

Committed suicide

Executed or assassinated

Killed in action

Died of natural causes or through an accident

Fate unknown or unclear

Gauleiter	Gau(e)	In office	Fate
Herbert Albrecht	Gau Mecklenburg	1930–1931	Died in June 1945
Karl Benz	Gau Hessen-Darmstadt[lower-alpha 1]	1932–1933
Ernst Wilhelm Bohle	NSDAP/AO [lower-alpha 2]	1933–1945	Imprisoned until 1949, died in 1960 in West Germany
Fritz Bracht	Gau Oberschlesien[lower-alpha 3]	1941–1945	Committed suicide in May 1945
Josef Bürckel	Gau Rheinpfalz [lower-alpha 4]	1926–1935	Died in September 1944[5]
	Gau Saarland [lower-alpha 5]	1933–1935
	Reichsgau Wien	1939–1940
	Gau Pfalz–Saar [lower-alpha 6]	1935–1944
Helmuth Brückner	Gau Schlesien [lower-alpha 7]	1925–1934	Died in Soviet captivity in 1951 or 1954
Walter von Corswant	Gau Pommern	1928–1931	Died in 1942
Léon Degrelle	Reichsgau Wallonien	1944–1945[lower-alpha 8]	Escaped to Spain in 1945 where he died in 1994
Artur Dinter	Gau Thüringen	1925–1927	Died in 1948
August Eigruber	Reichsgau Oberdonau	1939–1945	Executed in Bavaria in May 1947
Joachim Albrecht Eggeling	Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt	1935–1937	Committed suicide in April 1945[6]
	Gau Halle-Merseburg	1938–1945
Otto Erbersdobler	Gau Niederbayern[lower-alpha 9]	1929–1932[7]	Died in 1981 in West Germany
Walter Ernst	Gau Halle-Merseburg	1925–1926	Killed in action in March 1945
Friedrich Karl Florian	Gau Düsseldorf [lower-alpha 10]	1929–1945	Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1975 in West Germany[8]
Albert Forster	Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen [lower-alpha 11]	1930–1945	Executed in Poland in 1952
Peter Gemeinder	Gau Hessen-Darmstadt	1931	Died in 1931
Karl Gerland	Gau Kurhessen[lower-alpha 12]	1944–1945 (acting)	Killed in action in April 1945
Paul Giesler	Gau Westfalen-Süd	1941–1943	Committed suicide in May 1945[9]
	Gau München-Oberbayern [lower-alpha 13]	1944–1945
Joseph Goebbels	Gau Berlin-Brandenburg[lower-alpha 14]	1926–1929	Committed suicide in Berlin in May 1945[10]
	Gau Berlin	1929–1945
Odilo Globocnik	Reichsgau Wien	1938–1939	Committed suicide in British captivity in May 1945
Arthur Greiser	Reichsgau Wartheland [lower-alpha 15]	1939–1945	Executed in Poland in 1946
Wilhelm Grimm	Gau Mittelfranken[lower-alpha 16]	1928
Josef Grohé	Gau Köln-Aachen	1931–1945	Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1987 in West Germany
Anton Haselmayer	Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd[lower-alpha 17]	1925–1926
Heinz Haake	Gau Rheinland–Süd[lower-alpha 18]	1925	Died in British captivity in 1945
Ludolf Haase	Gau Hannover-Süd[lower-alpha 19]	1927–1928	Died in 1972 in West Germany
Karl Hanke	Gau Niederschlesien [lower-alpha 20]	1941–1945	Captured and killed by Czech partisans
Otto Hellmuth	Gau Unterfranken [lower-alpha 21]	1928–1945	Imprisoned until 1955, committed suicide in 1968 in West Germany[11]
Konrad Henlein	Reichsgau Sudetenland	1939–1945	Committed suicide in US captivity in May 1945
Friedrich Hildebrandt	Gau Mecklenburg	1925–1930 1931–1945	Executed in Bavaria in November 1948
Paul Hinkler	Gau Halle-Merseburg	1926–1930	Committed suicide in April 1945
Franz Hofer	Reichsgau Tirol	1932–1933	Escaped captivity in 1948, died in 1975 in West Germany
	Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg	1938–1945
Albert Hoffmann	Gau Westfalen-Süd	1943–1945	Committed suicide in April 1945
Paul Hofmann	Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt	1933
Hans-Albert Hohnfeldt	Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen	1926–1928
Emil Holz	Gau Brandenburg[lower-alpha 22]	1929–1930
Karl Holz	Gau Franken[lower-alpha 23]	1942–1945	Died in April 1945 under unclear circumstances[12]
Rudolf Jordan	Gau Halle-Merseburg	1930–1937	Imprisoned in the Soviet Union until 1955, died in West Germany in 1988[13]
	Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt	1938–1945
Hugo Jury	Reichsgau Niederdonau	1939–1945	Committed suicide in May 1945
Wilhelm Karpenstein	Gau Pommern	1931–1934	Died in 1968 in West Germany
Karl Kaufmann	Gau Rheinland–Nord[lower-alpha 24]	1925–1926	Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1969 in West Germany[14]
	Gau Ruhr [lower-alpha 25]	1926–1929
	Gau Hamburg	1929–1945
Josef Klant	Gau Hamburg	1925–1926	Died in 1927
Hubert Klausner	Reichsgau Kärnten	1939–1940	Died in 1939
Erich Koch	Gau Ostpreußen	1928–1945	Died in prison in Poland in 1986
Albert Krebs	Gau Hamburg	1927–1928	Died in 1974 in West Germany
Wilhelm Kube	Gau Ostmark[lower-alpha 26]	1928–1933	Assassinated by Soviet partisans in September 1943
	Gau Kurmark[lower-alpha 27]		1933–1936
Franz Kutschera	Reichsgau Kärnten	1940–1941	Executed by Polish resistance fighters in February 1944
Hartmann Lauterbacher	Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig [lower-alpha 28]	1940–1945	Escaped captivity in 1948, died in 1988 in West Germany
Robert Ley	Gau Rheinland–Süd	1925–1931	Indicted at the Nuremberg trials, but committed suicide in his cell in October 1945 before the trials began
Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper	Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt	1927–1933 1934–1935	Died in 1935
Hinrich Lohse	Gau Hamburg	1928–1929	Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1964 in West Germany[15]
	Gau Schleswig-Holstein	1925–1945
Walter Maaß	Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen	1928–1930
Franz Maierhofer	Gau Oberpfalz[lower-alpha 29]	1929–1932	Killed in action in August 1943
Friedrich Mengeringhausen	Gau Hessen-Darmstadt	1927–1931
Alfred Meyer	Gau Westfalen-Nord	1932–1945	Committed suicide in April 1945
Eugen Munder	Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern	1925–1928	Died in 1952
Wilhelm Murr	Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern	1928–1945	Committed suicide in French captivity in May 1945
Martin Mutschmann	Gau Sachsen	1925–1945	Executed in the Soviet Union in February 1947
Hans Nieland	NSDAP/AO	1930–1933	Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1976 in West Germany
Franz Pfeffer von Salomon	Gau Westfalen [lower-alpha 30]	1925–1926	Died in 1968 in West Germany
Friedrich Rainer	Reichsgau Salzburg	1939–1941	Executed in Yugoslavia in July 1947
	Reichsgau Kärnten	1942–1944
Fritz Reinhardt	Gau Niederbayern	1928–1930	Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1969 in West Germany
Carl Röver	Gau Weser-Ems	1929–1942	Died in 1942
Ludwig Ruckdeschel	Gau Bayerische Ostmark[lower-alpha 31]	1945	Imprisoned until 1952, died in 1986 in West Germany[16]
Bernhard Rust	Gau Hannover-Nord[lower-alpha 32]	1925–1928	Committed suicide in May 1945
	Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig	1928–1940
Fritz Sauckel	Gau Thüringen	1927–1945	Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, executed in October 1946
Gustav Adolf Scheel	Reichsgau Salzburg	1941–1945	Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1979 in West Germany
Hans Schemm	Gau Oberfranken[lower-alpha 33]	1928–1933	Died of injuries sustained in an aircraft crash in March 1935[17]
	Gau Bayerische Ostmark	1933–1935
Bruno Gustav Scherwitz	Gau Ostpreußen	1925–1927
Baldur von Schirach	Reichsgau Wien	1940–1945	Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, imprisoned for 20 years, died 1974 in West Germany
Ernst Schlange	Gau Berlin-Brandenburg	1925–1926	Died in Soviet captivity in 1947
	Gau Brandenburg	1930–1933
Fritz Schlessmann	Gau Essen	1940–1945 (acting)	Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1964 in West Germany
Gustav Hermann Schmischke	Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt	1925–1928
Walther Schultze	Gau Kurhessen	1926–1927	Died in 1979 in West Germany
	Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd	1926–1927
Franz Schwede	Gau Pommern	1935–1945	Imprisoned until 1956, died in 1960 in West Germany
Gustav Simon	Gau Moselland [lower-alpha 34]	1931–1945	Captured by the British Army, found hanged in his cell in December 1945
Jakob Sprenger	Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd	1927–1933	Committed suicide in May 1945
	Gau Hessen-Nassau[lower-alpha 35]	1933–1945
Willi Stöhr	Gau Pfalz–Saar	1944–1945	Escaped to Canada[18]
Gregor Strasser	Gau Niederbayern–Oberpfalz [lower-alpha 36]	1925–1929	Executed during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934
Julius Streicher	Gau Franken	1929–1940	Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, executed in October 1946[19]
Emil Stürtz	Gau Kurmark	1939–1945	Missing since April 1945, declared dead
Otto Telschow	Gau Lüneburg-Stade	1925–1928	Captured by the British Army, committed suicide in May 1945
	Gau Osthannover	1925–1945
Josef Terboven	Gau Essen	1928–1945	Committed suicide in Norway in May 1945[20]
Theodor Vahlen	Gau Pommern	1925–1927	Died in 1945 in Czechoslovakia
Siegfried Uiberreither	Reichsgau Steiermark	1939–1945	Escaped from captivity in 1948, possibly died in 1984 in West Germany
Fritz Wächtler	Gau Bayerische Ostmark	1935–1945	Executed by the SS in April 1945[21]
Adolf Wagner	Gau München-Oberbayern	1933–1944	Died in April 1944
Josef Wagner	Gau Ruhr	1929–1931	Killed in May 1945 either by the SS or Soviet troops
	Gau Schlesien [lower-alpha 37]	1934–1940
	Gau Westfalen-Süd	1932–1941
Robert Heinrich Wagner	Gau Baden-Elsaß[lower-alpha 38]	1925–1945	Executed in France in October 1946[22]
Karl Wahl	Gau Schwaben	1928–1945	Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1981 in West Germany[23]
Paul Wegener	Gau Weser-Ems	1942–1945	Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1993 in West Germany
Karl Weinrich	Gau Kurhessen	1927–1943	Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1973 in West Germany
Jef van de Wiele	Reichsgau Flandern	1944–1945[lower-alpha 39]	Imprisoned for 17 years, died in 1979 in Belgium
Hans Zimmermann	Gau Franken	1940–1941	Died in 1984 in West Germany[24]

Notes

1. Gau Hessen-Darmstadt became a part of Hessen-Nassau 1933
2. Foreign Organization branch of the Nazi Party
3. Created when Gau Schlesien was split into two separate Gaue
4. Gau Rheinpfalz became a part of Pfalz-Saar in 1935
5. Gau Saarland became a part of Pfalz-Saar in 1935
6. Gau Pfalz-Saar was founded in 1935 when Saarland & Rheinpfalz merged. It was renamed Saarpfalz in 1937 and finally Westmark in 1942
7. Gau Schlesien was divided into Niederschlesien & Oberschlesien in 1941
8. In exile in Germany
9. Gau Niederbayern became a part of Bayerische Ostmark 1933
10. Gau Düsseldorf was founded in 1929 from the Bezirk Bergisches-Land
11. Gau Danzig-Westpreußen was known as Gau Danzig before 1939
12. Kurhessen was known as Gau Hessen-Nassau-Nord before 1934
13. Gau München-Oberbayern was founded in 1933 when the Bezirk Oberbayern & Gross-München merged
14. Gau Berlin-Brandenburg was divided into Berlin & Brandenburg 1929
15. Wartheland was also known as Warthegau
16. Gau Mittelfranken became a part of Franken 1929
17. Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd became a part of Hessen-Nassau in 1933
18. Gau Rheinland-Süd was divided into Köln-Aachen & Koblenz-Trier in 1931
19. Gau Hannover-Süd became a part of Südhannover-Braunschweig 1928
20. Created when Gau Schlesien was split into two separate Gaue
21. Unterfranken was known as Gau Mainfranken after 1935
22. Gau Brandenburg was made a part of Kurmark 1933
23. Gau Franken was founded in 1929 when Mittelfranken merged with the Bezirk Nürnberg-Fürth
24. Gau Rheinland-Nord became a part of Ruhr in 1926
25. Gau Ruhr was divided into Westfalen-Nord & Westfalen-Süd in 1932
26. Gau Ostmark was made a part of Gau Kurmark in 1933
27. Kurmark was founded in 1933 when Ostmark merged with Brandenburg; it was renamed Gau Mark Brandenburg in 1940
28. Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig was founded in 1928 when Hannover-Nord & Hannover-Süd merged
29. Gau Oberpfalz became a part of Bayerische Ostmark in 1933
30. Gau Westfalen became a part of Ruhr in 1926
31. Gau Bayerische Ostmark was founded in 1933 when Gau Oberfranken, Niederbayern and Oberpfalz merged. It was renamed Gau Bayreuth after its capital in 1943
32. Gau Hannover-Nord became a part of Südhannover-Braunschweig 1928
33. Gau Oberfranken became a part of Bayerische Ostmark in 1933
34. Moselland was named Gau Koblenz-Trier until 1942
35. Gau Hessen-Nassau was founded 1933 when Hessen-Darmstadt merged with Hessen-Nassau-Süd
36. Gau Niederbayern-Oberpfalz was divided into Niederbayern & Oberpfalz in 1929
37. Gau Schlesien was divided into Niederschlesien & Oberschlesien in 1941
38. Included the French Alsace region from 1940 onwards and was renamed Gau Baden-Alsace
39. In exile in Germany

References

Inline

1. "Es ist das deutsche Herz" [Its the German heart]. spiegel.de (in German). Der Spiegel. 22 December 1954. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
2. "Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter zwischen 1933 und 1945" [Overview of Nazi Gaue, the Gauleiter and assistant Gauleiter from 1933 to 1945]. zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de (in German). Zukunft braucht Erinnerung. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
3. "Die Gaue der NSDAP" [The Gaue of the Nazi Party]. verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 31 March 2016.
4. "Die NS-Gaue" [The Nazi Gaue]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
5. "Bürckel, Josef". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
6. "NS-Zeit 1933-45" [Nazi era 1933-45]. xn--hndelstadt-halle-vnb.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
7. Anna Rosmus: Hitlers Nibelungen, Samples Grafenau 2015, pp. 60f
8. "ZEITGESCHICHTE / NATIONALSOZIALISTEN" [History/Nazis]. spiegel.de (in German). Der Spiegel. 8 May 1967. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
9. "Giesler, Paul". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
10. "Goebbels, Paul Joseph". deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Bavarian State Library. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
11. "Hellmuth, Otto". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
12. "Holz, Karl". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
13. "Jordan, Rudolf". uni-magdeburg.de (in German). University of Magdeburg. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
14. "Die Legende vom "guten Gauleiter"" [The legend of the "good Gauleiter"]. ndr.de (in German). Norddeutscher Rundfunk. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
15. "Lohse, Hinrich". deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Bavarian State Library. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
16. "Ruckdeschel, Ludwig". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
17. "Schemm, Hans". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
18. "Stöhr, Willi". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
19. "Streicher, Julius". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
20. "Josef Terboven (1898-1945)". historisches-centrum.de (in German). Historisches Centrum Hagen. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
21. "Wächtler, Fritz". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
22. "ROBERT WAGNER, GAULEITER, REICHSSTATTHALTER IN BADEN UND CHEF DER ZIVILVERWALTUNG IM ELSASS" [Robert Wagner, Gauleiter, Reichsstatthalter in Baden and chief of the civil administration of Alsace]. ns-ministerien-bw.de (in German). 12 December 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
23. "Wahl, Karl". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
24. "Zimmermann, Hans". verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de (in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016.

Bibliography

• Miller, Michael D. and Schulz, Andreas (2012). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders Of The Nazi Party And Their Deputies, 1925-1945 (Herbert Albreacht-H. Wilhelm Huttmann)-Volume 1, R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-1932970210
• Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte

External links

• Gauleiter Nuremberg War Crimes International Court
• Luxemburg Gauleiter
• WorldStatesmen - here Belgium
• List of Bavarian Gauleiter (German)