Reichsgau

NSDAP administrative units, 1944

File:Germany1941.png

lang}} highlighted

A {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (plural {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) was an administrative subdivision created in a number of areas annexed by Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945.

OverviewEdit

File:NaziGauePostcard1939-10-06-front.jpg

Propaganda postcard of Nazi Germany depicting the Gaue of the Reich and the Nazi Party (October 1939)

The term was formed from the words {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (realm, empire) and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the latter a deliberately medieval-sounding word with a meaning approximately equivalent to shire. The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} were an attempt to resolve the administrative chaos resulting from the mutually overlapping jurisdictions and different boundaries of the NSDAP Party {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, placed under a Party {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and the federal states, under a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} responsible to the Ministry of the Interior (in the Prussian provinces, the equivalent post was that of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick had long desired to streamline the German administration, and the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} were the result: the borders of party {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and those of the federal states were to be identical, and the party {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} also occupied the post of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. Rival interests and the influence the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} wielded with Hitler prevented any reform from being undertaken in the "Old Reich" (Template:Langx), which meant Germany in its borders of 1937 before the annexation of other territories like Austria, the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and Bohemia, and the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} scheme was therefore implemented only in newly-acquired territories.

There were several {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}:

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (German: Ostmark) formed from the formerly independent Austria
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, formed from a substantial part of the German-speaking outer rim areas of the former Czechoslovakia occupied in 1938
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (German: Danzig-Westpreußen) and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, formed from the Free City of Danzig and areas annexed from Poland

The East March was subsequently subdivided into seven smaller {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, generally coterminous with the former Austrian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (federal provinces).

List of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Edit

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia established in 1938Edit

{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} name	German name	Capital	Established	Notes
Carinthia	lang}}	lang}}	1938	Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Carinthia and Eastern Tyrol, included from 1941 on parts of Slovenia.
Lower Danube	lang}}	lang}} (see note)	1938	Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Lower Austria and northern {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}; included from 1939 on parts of southern Moravia, southeastern Bohemia and the two Bratislava boroughs of Devín and Petržalka. In 1943, Hitler toured {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} and assured {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} Hugo Jury that the capital would be {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}) in the near future.<ref>Bryant, C.C. (2007). Prague in black: Nazi rule and Czech nationalism, Harvard University Press, Template:ISBN, p. 125</ref>
lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	1938	lang}}.
Styria	lang}}	lang}}	1938	Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Styria and southern part of {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}; included from 1941 on parts of Slovenia.
lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	1938	Formed from the predominantly German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia that were ceded to Germany after the Munich Agreement.
Tirol-Vorarlberg	lang}}	lang}}	1938	lang}} and the northern part of Tyrol; {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} became part of the Gau Swabia.
Upper Danube	lang}}	lang}}	1938	Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Upper Austria and {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, a part of Styria; included from 1939 on parts of southern Bohemia.
Vienna	lang}}	Vienna (Wien)	1938	Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Vienna and surrounding parts of former Lower Austria.

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} established during the Second World WarEdit

{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} name	German name	Capital	Established	Notes
Danzig-West Prussia	lang}}	lang}}	1939	Formed in the Free City of Danzig and the Polish region of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, which were both occupied by Germany in 1939.
Flanders	lang}}	Antwerp (Antwerpen)	1944	Formed in the Flemish Region of Belgium, comprising the Dutch-speaking provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, West Flanders, the {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} of Brussels (except the city of Brussels itself), and the {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} of Leuven in the then-province of Brabant (the present-day province of Flemish Brabant).
Wallonia	lang}}	Liège (Lüttich)	1944	Formed in the Belgian region of Wallonia, comprising the Francophone provinces of Hainaut, Liège except the cantons of Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith, Luxembourg, Namur, and the {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} of Nivelles in the contemporary province of Brabant (now part of the separate province of Walloon Brabant).
lang}}	lang}}	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	1939	Formed primarily in the Polish region of the Poznań Voivodeship as well as southern areas of Pomeranian and the western half of Łódź Voivodeship after the German occupation of Poland.

Planned {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} that were never establishedEdit

{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} name	German name	Capital	Notes
Upper Rhine	lang}}	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	lang}} and Alsace, formerly part of Alsace-Lorraine.
Moselland	lang}}	lang}}	lang}} and Luxembourg.
West March	lang}}	lang}}	Formed out of the Bavarian Rhine Palatinate, the former Territory of the Saar Basin, and parts of Lorraine that were a component of Alsace-Lorraine.
Banat/Prince-Eugene-Land	lang}}	Belgrade ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, or to be renamed to {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	To be formed out of the Yugoslavian territories of {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, Syrmia, and Banat, parts of Transylvania ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}) and Baranya. To be named for Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), Austrian general who had a famous victory at the Siege of Belgrade (1688).
Beskidland	lang}}	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	lang}} to the San river in the east. It was to substantially correspond to the upper Vistula river basin. It was to be almost identical in size to {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}. Named for the Beskids mountain range.
Brabant	lang}}	Not specified.	To be formed out of central parts of Belgium.
Burgundy	lang}}	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}) or Geneva ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or Dijon<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	To be formed out of the territories of eastern France (excluding {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}) that were to be annexed into Germany after the war. Also to be included to the {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} were parts of Western Switzerland.
Galicia	lang}}	Lviv ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}.
Gothland	lang}}	Simferopol (to be renamed to {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	To be formed out of the Crimean peninsula and large parts of mainland Ukraine. Named for the Goths.
North March	lang}}	Not specified.	To be formed out of Denmark.
Vandalland	lang}}	Not specified, probably Litzmannstadt (Łódź).	To be formed out of part or all of the area of the General Government. Named for the Vandals.
Vistulaland	lang}}	Warsaw ({{#invoke:Lang\|lang}})	To be formed out of the middle Vistula river basin. It was to be almost identical in size to {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}.
Westland/Holland	lang}}	Not specified.	To be formed out of the Netherlands after its intended annexation into Germany.

Planned {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} for a post-Nazi GermanyEdit

File:Proposed administrative division of Germany 1941.png

Approximate borders of the proposed Reichsgaue by Goerdeler and Beck

The conservative wing of the German resistance to Nazism, namely Ludwig Beck and Carl Goerdeler, had planned to divide all of Germany (in the borders of 1938 plus the pre-1918 Prussian lands) after a successful takeover of the government into Reichsgaue, modeled after the counties in the UK and the provinces of Prussia. According to Goerdelers 1941 memorandum Das Ziel («The Goal»), every Gau should have been self-administered by a Gau Landtag and overseen by a Oberpräsident (similar to a British lord-lieutenant). In every Gau, there should have been a Gau court (i. e. Oberlandesgericht), a Gau attorney, and a Gau president of each the Reichsbahn, the Reichspost, and the revenue services.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

lang}} name	German name	Notes
East Prussia	Ostpreußen	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of East Prussia in the 1918 borders
West Prussia	Westpreußen	To be formed out of the Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen, roughly corresponding to the former Province of West Prussia
Wartheland	Wartheland	To be formed out of the Reichsgau Wartheland, roughly corresponding to the former Province of Posen
Upper Silesia	Oberschlesien	To be formed out of the Province of Upper Silesia
Lower Silesia	Niederschlesien	To be formed out of the Province of Lower Silesia
Sudetenland	Sudetenland
Upper Saxony	Obersachsen	To be formed out of Saxony and probably the later Prussian Province of Halle-Merseburg, capital in Dresden
Middle Saxony	Mittelsachsen	To be formed out of Anhalt and the later Prussian Province of Magdeburg
Brandenburg	Brandenburg	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg
Berlin	Berlin	To be formed out of Greater Berlin
Pomerania	Pommern	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Pomerania
Mecklenburg	Mecklenburg
Schleswig-Holstein	Schleswig-Holstein	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein
Lower Saxony	Niedersachsen	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Hanover, the State of Brunswick and Bremen (state)
Hamburg	Hamburg
Oldenburg	Oldenburg	To be formed out of the State of Oldenburg
Westphalia	Westfalen	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Westphalia
Rhineland	Rheinland	To be formed out of the Prussian Regierungsbezirke of Koblenz, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Aachen
Hesse-Nassau	Hessen-Nassau	To be formed out of the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, capital in Kassel
Thuringia	Thüringen	To be formed out of the State of Thuringia and the Prussian Regierungsbezirk Erfurt
Saar-Palatinate	Saarpfalz	To be formed out of the Territory of the Saar Basin, the Bavarian Palatinate and the Regierungsbezirk Trier
Hesse	Hessen	To be formed out of the State of Hesse, capital in Darmstadt
Alsace	Elsass	To be formed out of the German-speaking parts of Alsace and probably German Lorraine, with a high degree of autonomy
Baden	Baden	To be formed out of the State of Baden
Württemberg	Württemberg	To be formed out of the State of Württemberg, Vorarlberg and probably Bavarian Swabia
Bavaria	Bayern	To be formed out of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirke Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate and Tyrol (probably including South Tyrol), capital in Munich
Franconia	Franken	To be formed out of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirke Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, capital in Nuremberg
Austria	Österreich	To be formed out of Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Salzburg and Carinthia