''Ortsgruppenleiter'' (Local Group Leader) was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed between 1930 and 1945. The term first came into being during the German elections of 1930, and was held by the head Nazi of a town or city, or in larger cities, of a neighbourhood, for the purposes of election district organization. After 1933, through the process of ''

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...

'', the position of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' evolved into the Nazi leader of a large town or city or of a city district.

Role in Municipal Government

After the founding of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the political rank of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' was held by the chief Nazi in a municipal area. In many situations, town and city administration overlapped with the Nazi political system, meaning that the traditional local government was overshadowed, if not entirely replaced, by Nazi leadership. Traditional government titles did continue to exist, such as ''

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

''; however, if these positions were not already held by a corresponding Nazi official, city government was little more than a

rubber stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubber ...

to Nazi designs.Clark, J. (2007). Uniforms of the NSDAP. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the position of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' encompassed a large amount of responsibility and power as it was these Nazi officials who typically ran the city

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

systems as well as the allocation of war

ration Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

s and civil relief efforts. As Germany was invaded and defeat became imminent, Nazi leaders in major towns and cities also became ''ad hoc'' military commanders in charge of mixed-unit German forces and

Volksturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, b ...

units.

Insignia

Between 1930 and 1932, the political rank of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' was denoted by a braided shoulder cord and a white collar bar worn on a Nazi Party brown shirt. After 1933, the rank was denoted by two light yellow collar bars. The actual rank of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' was phased out of the Nazi Party in 1939, replaced by a large number of expanded paramilitary political titles. The position of ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' was after this time typically held by a Nazi with the rank of '' Abschnittsleiter'', paired as well with a political armband denoting the specific position of ''Ortsgruppenleiter''.

References

{{Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks Nazi political ranks