Regierungsbezirk Stade
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, 1823–1885), Governor (''Regierungspräsident'', 1885–1978) , leader1 = , year_leader1 = 1823–1841 , leader2 = , year_leader2 = 1863–1872 , leader3 = , year_leader3 = 1922–1933 , leader4 = , year_leader4 = 1950–1954 , leader5 = , year_leader5 = 1958–1959 , leader6 = , year_leader6 = 1959–1973 , title_deputy = Vice-governor (german: link=no, Regierungsvizepräsident, 1885–1978) , deputy1 = , year_deputy1 = , deputy2 = , year_deputy2 = , legislature = no autonomous legislation, power only deriving from the state government , house1 = , house2 = , type_house1 = , type_house2 = , era = 19th and 20th century , event_pre = real union of Bremen-
Verden
with Hanover , date_pre = 1823 , event_start = annexed by Prussia , date_start = 20 September 1866 , event1 = reorganisation acc.
to Prussian standards , date_event1 = 1 April 1885 , event2 = governor dismissed by
Gauleiter O. Telschow
- Nazi control intensified
by subjection to Nazi
Gau Eastern Hanover , date_event2 = 1933


1935 , event3 = U.S. (partially until 1947)
and British occupation , date_event3 = 1945–1949 , event4 = part of Lower Saxony
since its foundation,
entailed by the official
abolition of Prussia on , date_event4 = 1/22 November 1946

25 February 1947 , event_end = merged into the
Lunenburg Region , date_end = 31 January , year_end = 1978 , event_post = , date_post = , year_post = , stat_year1 = 1823 , stat_area1 = 7025 , stat_pop1 = 208251 , stat_year2 = 1890 , stat_area2 = 6786 , stat_pop2 = 338225 , stat_year3 = 1939 , stat_area3 = , stat_pop3 = 462592 , stat_year4 = 1969 , stat_area4 = 6850 , stat_pop4 = 627000 , political_subdiv = bailiwicks ('' Amt/Ämter'', sg./pl., 1823–1885), thereafter
rural districts Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the ad ...
(''Landkreis'' 'e'' sg. l. and urban districts ( 1913–24, 1913–24,
Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...
1924–47,
Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
1937–77)
, today = Germany , footnotes = The Stade Region emerged in 1823 by an administrative reorganisation of the dominions of the Kingdom of Hanover, a
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
state, whose then territory is almost completely part of today's German federal state of Lower Saxony. Until 1837 the ''Kingdom of Hanover'' was ruled in personal union by the Kings of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The official title of the Region was ''High-Bailiwick of Stade'' (1823–1885; german: link=no, Landdrostei Stade) and then ''Governorate of Stade'' (1885–1978; german: link=no, Regierungsbezirk Stade). The ''High-Bailiwick of Stade'', being a mere administrative unit of the integrated ''Kingdom of Hanover'', was named after and seated in
Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
, Bremen-Verden's former capital, taking over its staff, installations and buildings. The territory of the ''Stade Region'' was combined by the territories of the
Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Wes ...
, the Duchies of Bremen and Verden (), all Hanoverian dominions, which were collectively administered. The territory belonging to the ''Stade Region'' covered about the triangular area between the mouths of the rivers Elbe and Weser to the North Sea and today's German federal states of Hamburg and
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
. This area included about today's ''Lower Saxon'' counties (german: link=no, Landkreis or ) of
Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
(southernly),
Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...
, Rotenburg upon Wümme,
Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
and Verden as well as of the Bremian exclave of the city of Bremerhaven.


History


Before the establishment of the ''High-Bailiwick of Stade''

The collectively administered
Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Wes ...
, the ''Duchy of Bremen'' and the ''Duchy of Verden'' were therefore colloquially referred to as the Duchies of Bremen-Verden or simply ''Bremen-Verden''. The latter two emerged in 1648 by the transformation of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, then ''Duchy of Bremen'', and the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, then ''Duchy of Verden''. The ''Kingdom of Hanover's'' predecessor the Prince-Electorate of Brunswick and Lunenburg (or, colloquially called after its capital ''Electorate of Hanover''; german: link=no, Kurfürstentum Braunschweig und Lüneburg, or ) purchased ''Bremen-Verden'' from its Danish occupants de facto in 1715 (and again from its legitimate owner
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1719 ( Treaty of Stockholm) for rixdollars tlr1 million). De jure this acquisition had to be legitimised by imperial feoffment. It took Elector George II Augustus until 1733 to get Charles VI to enfeoff him with the Duchy of Bremen and Verden. In 1728 Emperor ''Charles VI'' enfeoffed Elector ''George II Augustus'', who in 1727 had succeeded his father George I Louis, with the reverted fief of Saxe-Lauenburg. By a redeployment of Hanoverian territories in 1731 ''Bremen-Verden'' was conveyed the administration of the neighboured
Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Wes ...
(at the Northern tip of ''Bremen-Verden''), since 1180 an exclave, first of the ''younger Duchy of Saxony'', from 1296 on of the ''Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg'', one of the former's successors. At both feoffments ''George II Augustus'' swore that he would respect the existing privileges and constitutions of the ''Estates'' of ''Bremen-Verden'' and of ''Hadeln'', thus confirming 400-year-old traditions of Estate participation in government. The small ''Land of Hadeln'' maintained until 1885 as to its legislation a certain level of internal autonomy () but as to the executive power ''Hadeln'' was administered by neighboured ''Bremen-Verden's'' provincial government. Being a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire and represented in its Diet by virtue of his ''Electorate of Hanover'', ''George II Augustus'' didn't bother about ''Bremen-Verden's'' status of
Imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...
. Since ''Bremen-Verden'' had turned Hanoverian it never again sent its own representatives to a ''Diet'' .


The ''Stade Region'' as part of the state of ''Hanover'' in the years from 1813 to 1866

After the Napoleonic Wars, which brought changing occupations and annexations of the ''Duchies of Bremen and Verden'' (for more details see Bremen-Verden), Bremen-Verden was restored in 1813 to the ''Electorate of Hanover'', which transformed into the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. Even though ''Bremen-Verden's'' status as a territory of imperial immediacy had become void with the end of the ''Holy Roman Empire'' in 1806, the Duchies were not right away incorporated in real union into the Hanoverian state. Since the Hanoverian monarchs had moved to London, ''Hanover'' had become a state of very conservative and backwarded rule, with a local government recruited from local aristocrats adding up much to the preservation of outdated structures. The real union with ''Hanover'' only followed in 1823, when an administrative reform united ''Bremen-Verden'' and ''Hadeln'' to form the ''High-Bailiwick of Stade'', administered according to unitarian modern standards, thereby doing away with various traditional Bremian government forms. ''Hadeln'' kept part of its traditional autonomy until 1852, its Estates continued to function with restricted authority until 1884. In 1823 the high-bailiwick consisted of 7,025 square kilometres with 208,251 inhabitants. On 1 May 1827 a small section of the lower Weser shore in the West of the ''High-Bailiwick of Stade'', forming the nucleus of the future city of Bremerhaven, was transferred to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, as agreed upon earlier that year in a contract by the Hanoveran minister
Friedrich Franz Dieterich von Bremer Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...
and ''Bremen's'' Burgomaster Johann Smidt. ''Bremerhaven'' (literally English: ''Bremian Harbour'') was founded to be a haven for ''Bremen's'' merchant marine, with that city located upstream the Weser being more and more disconnected from the sea, due to that river's silting up. ''Bremerhaven'' also became the home port of the German Confederation's Navy under Karl Rudolf Brommy.


Reorganisation of religious bodies in the ''Stade'' region

Two Lutheran consistories, one for the ''Land of Hadeln'' in Otterndorf (founded by ''Hadeln's'' Estates in 1535, integrated into Stade's consistory in 1885) and one in Stade (founded by Swedish Bremen-Verden's government in 1650) for the rest of the High-Bailiwick supervised the Lutheran cult and clergy. A general superintendent chaired each consistory. Lutherans made up by far the majority of the population. Among Lutherans
revivalism Revivalism may refer to: * Christian revival, increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect * Revivalism (architecture), the use of visual styles that consciously ...
played a major role in the 1850s. In 1848 the Lutheran parishes were democratised by the introduction of presbyteries (parish councils), elected by all major male parishioners and chairing each parish in co-operation with the pastor, being before the sole chairman. This introduction of presbyteries was somewhat revolutionary in the rather hierarchically structured Lutheran church. The Lutheran church was the
state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
of the Kingdom of Hanover with the king being (Supreme Governor of the Lutheran Church). In 1864 , Hanoverian minister of education, cultural and religious affairs (1862–1865), persuaded the to pass a new law as to the constitution of the Lutheran church. The constitution provided a state
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
(parishioners' parliament, german: link=no, Landessynode). But its first session only materialised in 1869, when after the Prussian annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover (1866) the Hanoverian Lutherans desired a representative body separate from Prussian rule, though it was restricted to Lutheran matters only. After the Prussian conquest in 1866, on 19 September 1866, the day before the official Prussian annexation took place and with the last king,
George V of Hanover en, George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , mother = Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , birth_date = 27 May 1819 , ...
, in exile, the Kingdom's six consistories joined to form the still existing Lutheran State Church of Hanover. An all-Hanoverian consistory, the ''Landeskonsistorium'' (state consistory), was formed with representatives from the regional consistories. The Lutheran state church became a stronghold of Hanoverian separatism and therefore somewhat politicised. It opposed the Evangelical State Church in Prussia, comprising the Protestant parishes in the Prussian territory prior the 1866 annexations, not only for its being a stronghold of Prussian patriotism, but for being a united church of formerly Lutheran and Calvinist parishes, with a preponderance of Calvinism because the Calvinist
Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
dynasty wielded its influence in the unification of Lutherans and Calvinists in then Prussia in 1817. The Hanoverian Lutherans managed to maintain their independence and the ''Evangelical State Church in Prussia'' stayed abreast of the changes and renamed in 1875 into Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. The Calvinist communities were in a somewhat sorry state. They emerged in the 1590s, when the Calvinist city of
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
actually possessed some area around
Bederkesa Bad Bederkesa (Northern Low Saxon: ''Beers'') is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the town of Geestland. It is situated approximately 20 km north ...
and Lehe (a part of today's Bremerhaven) at the lower Weser stream. In 1654, after the First Bremian War, the city ceded the area to Swedish ''Bremen-Verden'', which subjected the Calvinists there to supervision by the Lutheran consistory. Under Lutheran pressure only six congregations stood fast to Calvinism. In the municipalities, where they were located, Calvinists made up the majority of the population, later Lutheran migration outweighed the Calvinist preponderance. The rest of the Stade Region was and is a Calvinist
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
. In 1848 Hanoverian law also provided for presbyteries in the Calvinist parishes in the Stade Region, which exactly fit the presbyterian structure of Calvinism. But only in 1882 – long after the Prussian annexation of Hanover – the inappropriate supervision by Lutheran consistorials ended, when King William I of Prussia decreed the creation of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Province of Hanover comprising all the Calvinist communities in the prevailingly Lutheran Province of Hanover. The simultaneously Lutheran and Calvinist consistory in Aurich was made the consistory of that church body, becoming an exclusively Calvinist body only in 1922, following the constitutional reorganisation of the church bodies after the
Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
had decreed the separation of church and state in 1919. After the forcefully wielded attempts of reCatholicisation in 1628–1632, which ended with the reconquest by the legitimate Lutheran Administrator regnant of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, John Frederick, no Catholic communities existed and missionary and pastoral activities were supervised by the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of the Nordic Missions, but widely hindered by ''Bremen-Verden's'' government. By annexations after the Napoléonic Wars, the Kingdom of Hanover had become a state of three Christian denominations. In 1824 Hanover and the Holy See thus agreed upon to integrate the territory comprising the ''Stade Region'' into the neighboured Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim, with the ''Vicariate Apostolic's'' competence ending there. In 1859 (in , 170 Catholics) and in 1872 (in Verden upon Aller) the first Catholic parishes were founded (after 1632), with all the Stade Region being a Catholic diaspora. Jews left scarce archival traces in the mediaeval Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. In 1611 the city of Stade signed a contract with
Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Jews, allowing the foundation of a community. In 1613 Administrator ''John Frederick'' followed by settling Ashkenazzi Jews in the city, but during the turmoil of Catholic conquest and Lutheran reconquest the last archival traces of Jews date from 1630. Only by the end of the 17th century Jews reappear in Bremen-Verden. At the beginning of the 19th century some 30 Jewish families lived dispersedly over the region, under precarious legal status, and without Jewish institutions. By the Westphalian and French annexations in 1807 and 1810 the Jews in the Stade Region had been
emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
and thus naturalised, only to lose their French citizenship again by France's defeat in 1813, falling back into a status of toleration or mere indigenousness without political rights in restituted Bremen-Verden. In 1842 the Kingdom of Hanover granted equal rights to Jews and promoted to build up Jewish communities and a regional superstructure (
Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
nate) within a nationwide scope. The Jews in the Stade Region regarded this a progress and a burden alike, because prior they hadn't employed any rabbi and religion teacher, opened hardly a synagogue or school due to the implied financial burden. In 1845 – according to the new law – a , under land-rabbi
Joseph Heilbut Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, was established, serving 16 Jewish communities, which were founded over the years, with altogether 1,250 Jews in 1864 (highest number ever reached). The local authorities now requested, that the Jewish communities establish synagogues and Jewish education for the pupils. Synagogues existed in Neuhaus upon Oste and in Osten (both early 19th century), in Horneburg (opened 1831) and in
Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
(opened 1849, closed due to financial restrictions in 1908). And a teacher for Jewish religion and Hebrew was employed (after 1890 Stade's community couldn't afford a teacher any more). From 1903 on the Jewish community of Stade was granted public subsidies to continue functioning. The land-rabbins simultaneously fulfilled religious and state functions, like supervising Jewish elementary schools and the teaching of Jewish religion in all schools. The Kingdom of Hanover was thus one of the few states within the German Confederation, where rabbis held a similar semi-state authoritative position as to Jews as did, e.g., Lutheran clergy towards Lutherans. After the Prussian annexation the constitution of Hanover's four land-rabbinates came under threat to be abolished, because in Prussia proper the government hindered as much as possible the establishment of nationwide Jewish organisations, let alone such which it would grant official recognition. In the end Prussia respected the existing Hanoverian land-rabbinate constitution, which continued to exist – modified according to the separation of state and religion in 1919 by the
Weimar constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
 – until the Nazi Reich's government de facto abolished the constitution in 1938. The communities in urban Lehe (28 families, after 1924 part of
Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...
: 300 community members in 1928), Scharmbeck (20 families) and Verden upon Aller were the biggest by membership, while rural communities vanished. The Stade Region stayed a Jewish diaspora, and from 1860 on Stade's land-rabbinate was never staffed again, but served alternately by one of the other three Hanoverian land-rabbinates. Labour migration and emigration to urban centres outside the Stade Region and Jewish demography rather lead to a reduction of the number of Jews in the ''Stade Region'' (786 in 1913, 716 in 1928).


The ''Stade Region'' as an administrative unit of Prussia (1866-1945/1947)

After the Prussian annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866, the kingdom was transformed into the Prussian Province of Hanover. The adaptation to other Prussian administrative structures took only place in 1885, when the high-bailiwick was redesigned according to Prussian law as the ''Governorate of Stade'' (german: link=no, Regierungsbezirk Stade). The Hanoverian subsections of a high-bailiwick (german: link=no,
Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
, plural: ), were redeployed into 14 bigger Prussian style counties (german: link=no, Kreis, plural: ). At the time of its redeployment the high-bailiwick's population amounted to 300,000. In 1905 the population amounted to 403,302 with an area of , which made up a density of 59 persons per square kilometre. The ''Governorate of Stade'' weathered the following wars and constitutional changes. ''Bremerhaven'' was several times enlarged at the expense of the ''Governorate of Stade''´s territory. But on the latter's territory several suburbs grew and in 1924 were united to form the urban county of
Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...
. In 1932 by an administrative reform the number of the governorate's 13 rural counties was reduced to a mere seven. In 1932 in the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
the Lutheran Church of the State of Hanover opened a camp for formerly workless singles, employed in public works (roadworks, amelioration) in
Sandbostel Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen'') in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Selsingen. In 2013, it had 830 inhabitants. History Sandbostel ...
. In 1933 the Nazis seized the power in Germany (
Machtergreifung 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 ...
). On the Reich's and the level of the states gradually all resistance was decapitated. Anti-Semitic discriminations were imposed onto Jewish Germans and Germans of Jewish descent. In 1932
Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany i ...
's Reich's government had overthrown the last democratic Prussian government under Otto Braun ( Prussian Coup). So the ''Governorate of Stade'', being a part of the Free State of Prussia, one of the most stable and democratised German states, came fast under Nazi influence. The governor resigned under pressure of Gauleiter
Otto Telschow Otto Telschow (27 February 1876 – 31 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official who served as ''Gauleiter'' in Eastern Hanover from 1925 to 1945. Early years Telschow was born in Wittenberge, the son of a judicial officer. Until 1893 he was ...
. The Nazis' rule enforcement was characterised by installing Nazi-loyal parallel structures, which would interfere with existing public administration and bring it to dictatorial lines. The ''Governorate of Stade'' came under ever increasing interference of the Nazi party's regional subsection Gau Eastern Hanover under Gauleiter
Otto Telschow Otto Telschow (27 February 1876 – 31 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official who served as ''Gauleiter'' in Eastern Hanover from 1925 to 1945. Early years Telschow was born in Wittenberge, the son of a judicial officer. Until 1893 he was ...
, especially after 1935, when the Nazi-party Gaue replaced the functions of the streamlined German states. The new Nazi Reich's government – "provisionally" ruling Prussia – had direct rule over the Prussian police, with police being an institution of the respective German states. The ordinary police had to guard together with S.A. men, the Prussian ''Criminal Police Department'' in charge for the ''Governorate of Stade'' was seated in its biggest city
Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...
. In March/April 1933 the ''Criminal Police'' was transformed into the new , directly subordinated to the new Geheime Staatspolizei (GeStapo, secret state police), circumventing all prior existing Prussian administrative structures, to which the former ''Criminal Police'' had been subjected and reporting before. At first Wesermünde's ''Stapo Department'' persecuted all political enemies of Nazism and later persons involved in all kinds of disobediences, such as strikes, absenteeism, black marketing, circumventions of ordered dues to be delivered, which all became an ever-growing phenomenon with the increasing weariness in the long duration of the war. The ''Stapo'' had its special eye on forced labourers in the governorate, abducted from all over German occupied Europe. In 1939 the Sandbostel camp, meanwhile usurped by the Nazi trade union Reichsarbeitsdienst, was converted into the prisoner-of-war camp
Stalag X-B Stalag X-B was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany. Between 1939 and 1945 several hundred thousand POW's of 55 nations passed through the camp. Due to the bad conditions in wh ...
and a camp of internment for civilian
enemy aliens In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
. Until 1945 about a million inmates passed through the camp, with about 46,000 perished. As to territorial changes the Reich's Nazi government decreed by the Greater Hamburg Act (1937) to incorporate the Hamburgian exclave of
Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
into the ''Governorate of Stade'', forming then an urban county. While at the most eastern end of the governorate some municipalities were integrated into the state of Hamburg. Two years later the Reich's Nazi government decreed to incorporate some municipalities of the counties of Osterholz and Verden into the city of Bremen and in return to disentangle ''Bremerhaven'' from the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and to incorporate it into ''Wesermünde''. But that redeployment didn't last long.


The ''Governorate of Stade'' as part of the British and U.S. Zone of Occupation (1945–1949)

From 1945 on the occupational U.S. forces in defeated Germany used the harbours of Bremen and Wesermünde as their ''Port of Embarkation''. Being actually located in the British Zone of Occupation the
Control Commission for Germany - British Element Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
and the Office of Military Government for Germany, U.S. (OMGUS) agreed in 1947 to constitute the cities of ''Bremen'' and ''Wesermünde'' as a German state named Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, becoming at that occasion an exclave of the
American Zone of Occupation Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
within the ''British zone''. Radio AFN (
American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
), based in rechristened ''Bremerhaven'', became popular for its transmissions of jazz and rock music. After this territorial toing and froing the ''Governorate of Stade'' belonged to Lower Saxony, the state newly founded in 1946 by the ''Control Commission for Germany – British Element'' (Cf. Ordinance No. 46), even before in 1947 the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
officially dissolved the Free State of Prussia.


The ''Governorate of Stade'' as an administrative unit of the state of ''Lower Saxony'' (1946–1978)

From 1973 to 1977 the number of Lower Saxon counties has been reduced by uniting counties. The urban county of
Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
and the neighboured counties of the
Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the Elbe and Wes ...
and Wesermünde were united to form the new County of Cuxhaven. The county of Bremervörde was integrated into the County of Rotenburg upon Wümme. Thus the governorate consisted only of a mere five counties: Cuxhaven,
Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...
, Rotenburg (Wümme),
Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
and Verden. In 1977 the governorate's population amounted to almost 700,000. The ''Governorate of Stade'' continued to exist until 31 January 1978. The next day it was incorporated into the neighbouring Governorate of Lunenburg (german: link=no, Regierungsbezirk Lüneburg), with the complete dissolution of all ''Lower Saxon'' governorates following in 2004. Today no single administrative entity covers the territory of the former Bremen-Verden. Today's efforts and activities in the field of culture in the region are covered by the (Engl. about: ''landscape union of the former duchies of Bremen and Verden'', or short ''Landschaftsverband Stade'').


List of High-Bailiffs and Governors

Bearing the title: High-Bailiff (german: link=no, Landdrost, plural: ) *1823–41 (1766–1845), Bremen-Verden's Estates elected him the last president of the provisional government (1813–1823) after the French retreat. In 1823 he became the first High-Bailiff of the ''Stade Region'', the merely administrative entity succeeding Bremen-Verden's dissolution in 1823. *1841–55 Freiherr (1801–1861), father of the later Prussian general Ernst von Bülow *1856–58 Freiherr (1798–1858), also Royal Hanoverian High-Bailiff in Osnabrück *1858–62 (died 23 November 1862), Geheimer Rat (privy councillor) *1863–72 (1802–1887), 1848–1850 minister for education, cultural and religious affairs of the Kingdom of Hanover *1872–85 Bearing the title: Governor (german: link=no, Regierungspräsident, plural: ) *1885–88 *1888–95 Dr. *1895–99 Dr. *1899–1909 Freiherr *1909–11 Graf *1911–22 *1922–33 Dr. (1879–1943), member of the Prussian House of Commons (1921–1932) for the DVP, forced to resign as governor by Gauleiter
Otto Telschow Otto Telschow (27 February 1876 – 31 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official who served as ''Gauleiter'' in Eastern Hanover from 1925 to 1945. Early years Telschow was born in Wittenberge, the son of a judicial officer. Until 1893 he was ...
*1933–36 (1890–1968), member of the Reichstag (1930–1933) for the NSDAP *1936–44 *1944–45 *1945 Dr.
Oskar Brenken Oskar may refer to: * oskar (gene), the Drosophila gene * Oskar (given name), masculine given name See also

* Oscar (disambiguation) {{disambig ...
provisional *November 1945–49 (1898–1969), member of the Bundestag (1956–57) for the CDU *1949–50 Dr. (1886–1979), only per pro as ''Regierungsvizepräsident'' *1950 Dr. (1899–1982), provisional *1950–54 Dr. (1897–1964), member of the Bundestag (1957–1964) for the
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
*1954–58 Dr. , member or the Lower Saxon Parliament (1959) for the GB/BHE *1958–59 Dr. (1903–1965), provisional, Lower Saxon Minister for Federal Affairs, Expellees and Refugees (1964–1965) in the second and third cabinet of Minister-President
Georg Diederichs Georg Diederichs (2 September 1900 – 19 June 1983) was a German politician, a member of the SPD, who served as Minister President of Lower Saxony from 1961 to 1970. He was born at Northeim and died in Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ...
(
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
) *1959–73 (1914–1973) *1973–78
Joachim Passow Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...
(1925–1983), only per pro as ''Regierungsvizepräsident''


Vital Statistics 1890–1980

SourceM. Rademache
Geschichte on Demand
Daten der Kreise der Provinz Hannover


Notable people from the Stade Region as from 1823 on

A list of interesting people whose birth, death, residence or activity took place in the Stade Region. * (1866–1959), teacher, politician, after Prussian annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866 member of the separatist German-Hanoverian Party * Anita Augspurg (born in Verden upon Aller; 1857–1943), suffragette, women's rights fighter * (1889–1979), Lutheran pastor in Stade, in 1935 beaten up by a Nazi squad, scolding him 'serf of the Jews' (Judenknecht), astronomer (name-giver of the asteroid
1651 Behrens 1651 Behrens, provisional designation , is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Marguerite Laugier in 1936, it was named after Johann Behrens. Discovery ...
), member of the anti-Nazi Protestant Confessing Church *
Cato Bontjes van Beek Cato Bontjes van Beek (; 14 November 1920 – 5 August 1943) was a German member of the Resistance against the Nazi regime. Early years Born in Bremen, Cato was the eldest of three children. She spent her childhood and youth in the nearby Fi ...
(1920–1943), grew up in Fischerhude, ceramist, resistant fighter against Nazism, beheaded in Berlin-Plötzensee * (1783–1867), Bremian, Danish and West Indian sugar manufacturer, politician, anti-Napoléonic freedom fighter *, (born in , 1903–1988), chemist * Karl Rudolf Brommy (born Bromme; 1804–1864), counter-admiral, navy-warrior in the independence wars of Brazil, Chile and Greece, founding organiser of the Greek Navy, supreme commander of the German Confederation's Reich's Navy in Bremerhaven (1849–1853) * Adolf Butenandt (born and grown up in Lehe, since 1947 part of Bremerhaven; 1903–1995), biochemist, Nobel prize-winner of chemistry in 1939 *
Louise Cooper Louise Cooper (29 May 1952 – 21 October 2009) was a British fantasy writer who lived in Cornwall with her husband, Cas Sandall. Cooper was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. She began writing stories when she was at school to entertain her ...
(1849–1931), missionary, founder and leader of blind mission in Hildesheim *
Carl Diercke Carl Diercke (born 15 September 1842 in Kyritz, Ostprignitz; died 7 March 1913 in Berlin) was a German cartographer. Life From 1863 to 1865, Diercke studied in Berlin. In 1875, Diercke started German geography atlas ''Diercke''. Diercke was ...
(1842–1913), geographer, cartographer, pedagogue, school councilor, founder of Diercke atlas series *
Wilhelm Heinrich Evers Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...
(1884–1960), aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer in the U.S. and Germany * (1720–1792), carpenter, ''Moor Commissioner'' in charge of draining, reclaiming and settling moor lands in the Stade Region *
Carl Friedrich Gauß Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...
(1777–1855), mathematician and astronomer, carried out triangulation in the Stade Region *
August Karl von Goeben August Karl Friedrich Christian von Goeben (10 December 181613 November 1880), was a Prussian infantry general, who won the Iron Cross for his service in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Early career Born at Stade 30 km west of Hamb ...
(1815–1880), general, sometimes disputed as Hanoverian treator, who served as commander in the Prussian army while the Prussian conquest of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866 * (1859–1918), farmer, anti-Semitic and agricultural politician, member of Prussian House of Commons (1893–1912), member of the Reichstag (1903–1918) *Baron (1826–1907), Hanoverian diplomat, minister for education, cultural and religious affairs of the Kingdom of Hanover (1865–1866), after Prussian annexation in 1866 leader of the separatist German-Hanoverian Party *
Bernhard Hoetger Bernhard Hoetger (4 May 1874 in Dortmund – 18 July 1949 in Interlaken) was a German sculptor, painter and handicrafts artist of the Expressionist movement. Life Hoetger was the son of a Dortmund blacksmith, he studied sculpture in Detmold from ...
(1874–1949), sculpturist, architect, among others active in Worpswede * August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), poet (e.g., of today's German anthem), Germanist, as exiled illegally in the Stade Region *
Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf 1948 Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (6 May 1893 – 21 December 1961) was a German politician (SPD). He joined the SPD in 1919. Kopf worked from 1939 to 1943 on behalf of the Nazi government as an asset manager in occupied Poland, ...
(born in Neuenkirchen in Hadeln; 1893–1961), lawyer, businessman, last county commissioner (Landrat) of the county of Hadeln (1928–1932), politician, last Upper President of the Prussian Province of Hanover (1945–1947), co-founder and first Prime Minister of the state of Lower Saxony (1947–1955, 1959–1961), Vice Prime Minister (1957–1959) * Fritz Mackensen (1866–1953), painter, graphicker, sculpturist, novelist * Otto Modersohn (1865–1943), painter * (1851–1927), politician, member of the Reichstag (1890–1924), speaker of the SPD faction the Reichstag (1911–1918) * Joachim Ringelnatz (1883–1934), marine in Cuxhaven, participating in September 1918 in the rebellion of 1918–1919, clerk, novelist, cabarettist * (1879–1943), lawyer, member of Prussian House of Commons (1921–1932), Regierungspräsident of Stade (1922–1933, forced to resign by Gauleiter Otto Telschow), author *
Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach Walther Kurt von Seydlitz-Kurzbach (; 22 August 1888 – 28 April 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LI Army Corps during the Battle of Stalingrad. At the end of the battle, he gave his officers freedom of action ...
(1888–1976), general, president of the anti-Hitlerist ''Federation of German Officers'' in Soviet prisonship-of-war (then integrated into the National Committee for a Free Germany), returned from Soviet prisonship-of-war in 1955 to Verden upon Aller *
Otto Telschow Otto Telschow (27 February 1876 – 31 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official who served as ''Gauleiter'' in Eastern Hanover from 1925 to 1945. Early years Telschow was born in Wittenberge, the son of a judicial officer. Until 1893 he was ...
(1876–1945), member of the Reichstag (1930–1945), Nazi Gauleiter of East Hanover district of the Nazi party (1928–1945) * (1763–1845), administrator, jurist, historian * (1902–1979), carpenter, resistance fighter against Nazism''Lebensläufe zwischen Elbe und Weser: Ein biographisches Lexikon'', Brage Bei der Wieden and Jan Lokers (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 2002, (Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vol. 16)


Notes


References

* (vol. 2) , (vol. 3) . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stade (Region) States and territories established in 1823 States and territories disestablished in 1978 Government regions of Prussia Former government regions of Germany Former states and territories of Lower Saxony Bremen-Verden Kingdom of Hanover Province of Hanover 1823 establishments in the Kingdom of Hanover