Wilhelm Stich (26 November 1894 – date of death unknown) was a German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

official who served as the first ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

'' of

Gau East Prussia Gau East Prussia (German: ''Ostpreußen'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the province of East Prussia in the Free State of Prussia from 1933 to 1945. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of t ...

in the Party's early days.

Life

Stich was born in Rogahlen in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, now named Rogale and located in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He was the son of a salesman, also named Wilhelm Stich, and his wife Wilhelmine Dublaski. Not much is known about his education and early life. He was employed as a commercial

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, the East Prussian capital, and on 8 April 1920 married Herta Maria Stich, daughter of August Stich and Justine Kimm. Stich joined the Nazi Party in 1925 (membership number 18,327) shortly after the lifting of the ban that had been imposed on it in the wake of the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...

of November 1923. He was a co-founder of the ''Ortsgruppe'' (Local Group) in Königsberg and became the ''

Ortsgruppenleiter ''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 ...

''. On 6 December 1925, Gau East Prussia was officially established and Stich became its first ''Gauleiter''. Stich also formed a branch of the

National Socialist Working Association The National Socialist Working Association, sometimes translated as the National Socialist Working Community (German: ''Nazionale Sozialiste Arbeitsgemeinschaft'') was a short-lived group of about a dozen Nazi Party ''Gauleiter'' brought together ...

in Königsberg. This was an association of northern and northwestern ''Gauleiters'' who belonged to the “revolutionary” left wing of the Party, as opposed to the more moderate wing that supported participation in electoral campaigns. By early 1926, Stich had been ousted from his ''Gauleiter'' position due to his inability to solve the financial problems of the Gau. He was succeeded as ''Gauleiter'' by Bruno Gustav Scherwitz on 1 February 1926. Stich was expelled from the Party but was permitted to re-enroll in 1928. No further details of his life are known.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stich, Wilhelm 1894 births Year of death missing Gauleiters National Socialist Working Association members Nazi Party officials People from East Prussia