The Gau Westmark (English: ''Western March'') was an
administrative division of
Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. From 1925 to 1933, it was a regional subdivision of the
Nazi Party.
History
The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was established at a
party conference on 22 May 1926 to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after the
Nazi seizure of power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
, the ''Gaue'' increasingly replaced the states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.
The ''Gau'' had its origin in 1925 in ''Gau Rheinpfalz'' (English:''Rhenish Palatinate''), comprising the parts of
Bavaria left of the river
Rhine, the
Palatinate
Palatinate or county palatine may refer to:
*the territory or jurisdiction of a count palatine
United Kingdom and Ireland
*County palatine in England and Ireland
* Palatinate (award), student sporting award of Durham University
*Palatinate (col ...
(German:''Pfalz''). The territory of
Oldenburg Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. The town itself has approximately 7,000 inhabitants.
Geography
...
was also annexed to the Gau in 1934. With the return of the
Saar Basin to Germany on 1 March 1935, the two regions were merged and formed the new ''Gau Pfalz-Saar''. This ''Gau'' was renamed ''Gau Saarpfalz'' (English:''Saar-Palatinate'') on 13 January 1936.
After the outbreak of the
Second World War and the defeat of
France in 1940, the French ''département'' of
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, renamed "
CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen", was added to the ''Gau'' on 30 November 1940. On 7 December 1940, it was again renamed, now ''Gau Westmark''. Gauleiter Bürckel hoped that ''Westmark'' would be extended as far as
Germany's future western border, especially keeping in mind the ore region of
Briey-
Longwy in the département of
Meurthe-et-Moselle.
Bürckel further laid claims to parts of Alsace and even
Baden. The ''Gau'', however, remained as it was until the defeat of Germany in 1945.
At the head of each Gau stood a
Gauleiter, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the
Second World War. Local Gauleiters were in charge of propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onwards, the
Volkssturm and the defence of the Gau.
The position of Gauleiter was held by
Friedrich Wambsganss from February 1925 to 13 March 1926 and
Josef Bürckel
Joseph Bürckel (30 March 1895 – 28 September 1944) was a German Nazi politician and a member of the German parliament (the Reichstag). He was an early member of the Nazi Party and was influential in the rise of the National Socialist movemen ...
from 13 March 1926 until his death on 28 September 1944, when
Willi Stöhr
Wilhelm “Willi” Stöhr (6 November 1903 – after 1994) was a Nazi Party official and politician who served as '' Gauleiter'' of Gau Westmark in the closing months of the war.
Early life
Born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld the son of a writer, St ...
took over and served for the duration of the existence of the Gau.
References
External links
Illustrated list of Gauleiter
{{coord missing, Bavaria
Westmark
Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate
German occupation of France during World War II
1933 establishments in Germany
1945 disestablishments in Germany