The List of Gauleiter enumerates 114 men who held the Nazi Party (NSDAP) senior regional leader rank of Gauleiter under Adolf Hitler, from the reestablishment of the party in February 1925 to the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945. It includes those that served in Germany proper and in those territories that were incorporated into Germany from 1935 to 1944. However, it does not include the Gauleiter of the separate Austrian Nazi Party (DNSAP) in the sovereign state of Austria prior to its annexation by Germany in the Anschluss of March 1938.
Of the 44 incumbent Gauleiter who survived the Second World War, 13 committed suicide around the time that Nazi Germany surrendered, eight were executed by the Allies after the war, one was executed by the SS in the closing days of the war and one died in captivity in the Soviet Union. By 1954, when Karl Wahl became the first former Gauleiter to publish his memoirs, eight were still missing, three were in prison and the remaining ten had been imprisoned and released.
List This is a list of Gauleiter with their Gaue assignment(s), time in office and comments about their fate: Killed in actionCommitted suicide before capture or in captivityExecuted or assassinatedDied in captivity, except suicide or execution Died of natural causes or through an accidentImprisoned, later released and died a free manEluded capture or escaped from captivityFate unknown or unclear
Gauleiter Gau(e) In office FateHerbert AlbrechtGau Mecklenburg1930–1931Died in June 1945Alois Bachschmid Gau Elbe-Havel1925–1926Died in 1968 in Italy Ernst Wilhelm BohleNSDAP/AO 1934–1945Imprisoned until 1949, died in 1960 in West GermanyFritz Bracht Gau Oberschlesien1941–1945Committed suicide in May 1945Karl BrückGau Saar 1931–1933Died in 1964 in West GermanyJosef BürckelGau Rheinpfalz 1926–1935Died in September 1944Gau Saar1933–1935Gau Pfalz–Saar 1935–1944Reichsgau Wien1939–1940Helmuth BrücknerGau Schlesien 1925–1934Died in Soviet captivity in 1951 or 1954Walther von CorswantGau Pommern 1927–1931Died in 1942Léon DegrelleReichsgau Wallonien1944–1945Escaped to Spain in 1945 where he died in 1994Artur DinterGau Thüringen 1925–1927Died in 1948 in the French occupation zone in GermanyAugust EigruberReichsgau Oberdonau 1938–1945Found guilty in the Dachau trials and executed at Landsberg Prison in May 1947Joachim Albrecht EggelingGau Magdeburg-Anhalt1935–1937Committed suicide in April 1945Gau Halle-Merseburg1937–1945Adolf EhreckeGau Saar1929–1931Died in 1980 in West GermanyOtto ErbersdoblerGau Niederbayern1929–1932Anna Rosmus: Hitlers Nibelungen, Samples Grafenau 2015, pp. 60fDied in 1981 in West GermanyWalter Ernst Gau Halle-Merseburg1925–1926Killed in action in March 1945 near DanzigFriedrich Karl Florian Gau Düsseldorf 1930–1945Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1975 in West GermanyAlbert ForsterGau Danzig1930–1939Executed in Poland in 1952Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen 1939–1945Peter GemeinderGau Hessen-Darmstadt1931Died in 1931Karl GerlandGau Kurhessen1943–1945(acting to 1944)Killed in action in April 1945 in Frankfurt on the OderPaul GieslerGau Westfalen-Süd1941–1943Committed suicide in May 1945Gau München-Oberbayern 1944–1945Odilo GlobocnikReichsgau Wien1938–1939Committed suicide in British captivity in May 1945Joseph Goebbels Gau Berlin-Brandenburg1926–1928Committed suicide in Berlin in May 1945Gau Berlin1928–1945Arthur GreiserReichsgau Wartheland 1939–1945Executed in Poland in 1946Wilhelm GrimmGau Mittelfranken1928–1929Executed in 1944 for connection with the 20 July plotJosef GrohéGau Köln-Aachen1931–1945Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1987 in West GermanyHeinrich HaakeGau Rheinland–Süd 1925Died in British captivity in 1945Ludolf HaaseGau Hannover-Süd1925–1928Died in 1972 in West GermanyKarl HankeGau Niederschlesien 1941–1945Captured and killed by Czech partisansAnton HaselmayerGau Hessen-Nassau-Süd1925–1926Died in 1962Edmund HeinesGau Oberpfalz1930 (acting)Executed during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934Otto HellmuthGau Unterfranken 1928–1945Imprisoned until 1955, committed suicide in 1968 in West GermanyKonrad HenleinReichsgau Sudetenland1938–1945Committed suicide in U.S. captivity in May 1945Friedrich Hildebrandt Gau Mecklenburg1925–19301931–1945Found guilty in the Dachau trials and executed at Landsberg Prison in November 1948Paul HinklerGau Halle-Merseburg1926–1931Committed suicide in April 1945Franz HoferReichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg1938–1945Escaped captivity in 1948, re-arrested 1949, and imprisoned until 1952. Died in 1975 in West Germany.Albert HoffmannGau Westfalen-Süd1943–1945Imprisoned until 1950. Died in West Germany in 1972Paul HofmannGau Magdeburg-Anhalt1932Died in 1980 in West BerlinHans Albert Hohnfeldt Gau Danzig1926–1928Died in 1948Emil Holtz Gau Brandenburg1928–1930Fate unknownKarl HolzGau Franken1942–1945(acting to 1944)Died 20 April 1945 under unclear circumstances in the defense of Nuremberg, either committed suicide or killed in actionRudolf Jordan Gau Halle-Merseburg1931–1937Imprisoned in the Soviet Union until 1955, died in West Germany in 1988Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt1937–1945Jakob JungGau Saar1926–1929Death date unknownRudolf JungN/A1938–1945Committed suicide in Czech captivity in December 1945Walter JungGau Saar1926Death date unknownHugo JuryReichsgau Niederdonau1938–1945Committed suicide 8 May 1945Wilhelm KarpensteinGau Pommern 1931–1934Died 2 May 1968 in West GermanyKarl KaufmannGau Rheinland–Nord1925Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1969 in West GermanyGroßgau Ruhr1926–1928Gau Hamburg1929–1945Josef KlantGau Hamburg1925–1926Died 4 November 1926Walter KlaunigGau Brandenburg/Potsdam1925–1926Fate unknownHubert KlausnerReichsgau Kärnten1938–1939Died in 1939Erich KochGau Ostpreußen1928–1945Died in prison in Poland in 1986Albert KrebsGau Hamburg1926–1928Died in 1974 in West GermanyHans Krebs N/A1938–1945Executed for treason in Czechoslovakia in February 1947 Wilhelm KubeGau Ostmark1928–1933Assassinated by Soviet partisans in September 1943Gau Kurmark1933–1936Franz KutscheraReichsgau Kärnten1939–1941Executed by Polish resistance fighters in February 1944Hartmann LauterbacherGau Südhannover-Braunschweig 1940–1945Escaped from captivity in 1948 to Rome, worked for western intelligence agencies and died in 1988 in West GermanyKarl Lenz Gau Hessen-Darmstadt1931–1932Died in 1944Josef LeopoldN/A1938–1941Killed in action in July 1941 in Malyn, Ukrainian SSRRobert LeyGau Rheinland–Süd1925–1931Indicted at the Nuremberg trials, but committed suicide in his cell in October 1945 before the trials beganKarl LinderGau Hessen-Nassau-Süd1926–1927Died in 1979 in West GermanyGau Hessen-Nassau1932Wilhelm Friedrich LoeperGau Magdeburg-Anhalt1927–1935Died in 1935Hinrich LohseGau Hamburg1928–1929Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1964 in West GermanyGau Schleswig-Holstein1925–1945Walter Maass Gau Danzig1928–1929 (acting)Fate unknownFranz MaierhoferGau Oberpfalz1929–1932(acting to 1930)Killed in action in August 1943 near KharkovAlfred MeyerGau Westfalen-Nord1931–1945Committed suicide in April 1945Joachim Meyer-Quade Gau Schleswig-Holstein1932Killed in action in September 1939 near Piątek in PolandHermann MuhsGau Südhannover-Braunschweig 1932Died in 1962 in West GermanyEugen MunderGau Württemberg-Hohenzollern1925–1928Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1952 in West GermanyWilhelm MurrGau Württemberg-Hohenzollern1928–1945Committed suicide in French captivity in May 1945Martin MutschmannGau Sachsen1925–1945Executed in the Soviet Union in February 1947Hans NielandNSDAP/AO1932–1933Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1976 in West GermanyFranz Pfeffer von SalomonGau Westfalen 1925–1926Died in 1968 in West GermanyAlfred Proksch N/A1934–1945Died in 1981 in Vienna, AustriaFriedrich RainerReichsgau Salzburg1938–1941Executed in Yugoslavia in November 1950Reichsgau Kärnten1941–1945Fritz ReinhardtGau Niederbayern1928–1930Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1969 in West GermanyFriedrich Ringshausen Gau Hessen-Darmstadt1927–1931Died in 1941Axel RipkeGau Rheinland-Nord1925Died in 1937Carl RöverGau Weser-Ems1928–1942Died in 1942Ludwig Ruckdeschel Gau Bayreuth1945Imprisoned until 1952, died in 1986 in West GermanyBernhard RustGau Hannover-Nord1925–1928Committed suicide in May 1945Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig1928–1940Fritz SauckelGau Thüringen1927–1945Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, executed in October 1946Gustav Adolf ScheelReichsgau Salzburg1941–1945Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1979 in West GermanyHans SchemmGau Oberfranken1928–1933Died of injuries sustained in an aircraft crash in March 1935Gau Bayerische Ostmark 1933–1935Bruno Gustav ScherwitzGau Ostpreußen1926–1927Died in 1985 in West GermanyBaldur von SchirachReichsgau Wien1940–1945Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, imprisoned until 1966, died 1974 in West GermanyErnst Schlange Gau Gross-Berlin 1925–1926Died in Soviet captivity in 1947Gau Brandenburg1930–1933Fritz SchlessmannGau Essen1940–1945 (acting)Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1964 in West GermanyErich SchmiedickeGau Groß-Berlin1926 (acting)Fate unknownGau Brandenburg1933 (acting)Gustav Hermann SchmischkeGau Anhalt 1925–1927Fate unknown Walter SchultzGau Hessen-Nassau-Nord1925–1928Died in 1953 in West GermanyGau Hessen-Nassau-Süd1926 (acting)Franz SchwedeGau Pommern1934–1945Imprisoned until 1956, died in 1960 in West GermanyGustav SimonGau Moselland 1931–1945Captured by the British Army, found hanged in his cell in December 1945Jakob SprengerGau Hessen-Nassau-Süd1927–1933Committed suicide in May 1945Gau Hessen-Nassau1933–1945Gustav StaebeGau Saar1929 (acting)Died in 1983 in West GermanyWilhelm StichGau Ostpreußen1925–1926Fate unknownWilli StöhrGau Westmark1944–1945Escaped to Canada, date of death unknownGregor StrasserGau Niederbayern–Oberpfalz 1925–1929Executed during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934Julius Streicher Gau Franken1929–1940Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials and executed in October 1946Emil StürtzGau March of Brandenburg1936–1945Missing since April 1945, presumed captured by Soviets, declared dead by German court in 1957Otto TelschowGau Lüneburg-Stade1925–1928Captured by the British Army, committed suicide in May 1945Gau Osthannover1928–1945Josef Terboven Gau Essen1928–1945Committed suicide in Norway in May 1945Siegfried UiberreitherReichsgau Steiermark1938–1945Escaped from captivity in 1948 to Argentina, possibly died in 1984 in West GermanyTheodor VahlenGau Pommern 1925–1927Died in 1945 in captivity in CzechoslovakiaLudwig ViereckHarzgau 1925–1926Fate unknownFritz WächtlerGau Bayerische Ostmark 1935–1945Executed by the SS in April 1945Adolf WagnerGau München-Oberbayern1929–1944Died in April 1944Josef Wagner Gau Westfalen1928–1931Killed in May 1945 either by the SS or Soviet troopsGau Schlesien 1934–1941Gau Westfalen-Süd1931–1941Robert Heinrich WagnerGau Baden-Elsaß1925–1945Executed in October 1946 in FranceKarl WahlGau Schwaben1928–1945Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1981 in West GermanyFriedrich WambsganssGau Rheinpfalz1925–1926Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1979 in West GermanyPaul WegenerGau Weser-Ems1942–1945Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1993 in GermanyKarl WeinrichGau Kurhessen1928–1943Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1973 in West GermanyJef van de WieleReichsgau Flandern1944–1945Imprisoned until 1963, died in 1979 in BelgiumHans Zimmermann Gau Franken1940–1942 (acting)Died in 1984 in West Germany
Notes
References
Citations
Sources Miller, Michael D. and Schulz, Andreas (2012). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders Of The Nazi Party And Their Deputies, 1925-1945 Vol. 1 (Herbert Albreacht-H. Wilhelm Huttmann), R. James Bender Publishing.
Miller, Michael D. and Schulz, Andreas (2021). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders Of The Nazi Party And Their Deputies, 1925-1945 Vol. 3 (Fritz Sauckel - Hans Zimmermann), Fonthill Media. Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte
External links Gauleiter Nuremberg War Crimes International Court Luxemburg Gauleiter WorldStatesmen - here Belgium List of Bavarian Gauleiter
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