A (plural ) was an administrative subdivision created in a number of
areas annexed by Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945.
Overview
The term was formed from the words (realm, empire) and , the latter a deliberately medieval-sounding word with a meaning approximately equivalent to ''
shire''. The were an attempt to resolve the administrative chaos resulting from the mutually overlapping jurisdictions and different boundaries of the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported th ...
Party , placed under a Party , and the
federal states
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
, under a responsible to the
Ministry of the Interior (in the
Prussian provinces, the equivalent post was that of ). Interior Minister
Wilhelm Frick had long desired to streamline the German administration, and the were the result: the borders of party and those of the federal states were to be identical, and the party also occupied the post of . Rival interests and the influence the wielded with Hitler prevented any reform from being undertaken in the "
Old Reich" (german: Altreich), which meant Germany in its borders of 1937 before the annexation of other territories like Austria, the , and Bohemia, and the scheme was therefore implemented only in newly-acquired territories.
There were several :
* (German: ''Ostmark'') formed from the formerly independent
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
* , formed from a substantial part of the German-speaking outer rim areas of the former
Czechoslovakia occupied in 1938
* (German: ''Danzig-Westpreußen'') and , formed from the
Free City of Danzig and areas annexed from
Poland
The East March was subsequently subdivided into seven smaller , generally coterminous with the former Austrian (federal provinces).
List of
in Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia established in 1938
established during the Second World War
(partly) formed out of pre-existing
Planned that were never established
See also
*
Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany
The ''Gaue'' (Singular: ''Gau'') were the main administrative divisions of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945.
The ''Gaue'' were formed in 1926 as Nazi Party regional districts in Weimar Germany based on the territorial changes after the First ...
*
Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
References
Citations
Sources
* , Historical map book, published: 1990, publisher: Orbis Verlag - Munich,
Shoa.de - List of Gaue and Gauleiter
website
{{Authority control
Sudetenland
Subdivisions of Nazi Germany
Types of administrative division