Gau Baden

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Gaue of the NSDAP in the German Reich in 1944

The Gau Baden was an administrative unit of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). It existed since 1925, from March 22, 1941 to 1945 the Gau was named Baden-Alsace . Occasionally the unofficial name Gau Oberrhein is used.

History and structure

NSDAP districts in 1926, 1928, 1933 (top row), and 1937, 1939, 1943 (bottom row)

The Gau existed since 1925 after it was founded by Gauleiter Robert Wagner . The Gau newspaper Führer appeared from 1927 under the editor-in-chief Franz Moraller , and from 1928 under the later Minister of Education, Otto Wacker . From 1926 the Gauleiter Lenz served as the Gauleiter's deputy and moved into the Reichstag in 1930 for Reichstag constituency 32. The Weinheimer NS district leader Köhler followed him as deputy until the NSDAP gained power in 1933. Since 1934 the Heidelberg NS district leader and Gaustab leader Hermann Röhn MdR held this office.

Wagner formed a provisional government on March 11, 1933 and took over the office of President of the Republic of Baden . On May 5, 1933 he was appointed Reich Governor. Walter Köhler (politician, 1897) became Prime Minister of Baden on May 6, 1933, who was able to exercise his own power, especially in economic policy. The district did not quite correspond to that of Baden. In 1940 Wagner set up a new Reichsgau "Upper Rhine" including occupied Alsace , which was not formally established, but the Baden-Alsace district of the NSDAP on March 22, 1941. The Sinti and Roma from Baden were born on May 20th In 1940 they were brought to the Hohenasperg assembly camp near Stuttgart, from where they were to be deported to Poland . After the occupation of Alsace, Robert Wagner became head of the civil administration there on June 20, 1940 with the main goal of making Alsace "German" again. Köhler took over the economy and finances at the CdZ. The Germanization policy resulted in 45,000 people being expelled or deported from Alsace. On October 22 and 23, 1940, the Jews of the Gau were gathered and deported to the Gurs concentration camp in southern France. This Wagner-Bürckel-Aktion , initially kept secret, was planned by the Gau leaders Josef Bürckel (Gau Saarpfalz) and Robert Wagner and carried out in Karlsruhe by SS leader Gustav Adolf Scheel . On November 23, 1941, the Reich University of Strasbourg was opened, which was supposed to work in the Nazi spirit. The Schirmeck-Vorbruck security camp and the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp existed in the Gau .

The Gauleitung had its seat in Karlsruhe , Ritterstrasse 28, from August 7, 1940 in Strasbourg , Pioniergasse 4. A Gau leader school existed in Frauenalb . The Gauamt for civil servants under Leopold Mauch had its own Gau schools in Hornberg Castle (Black Forest) and from 1940 in Karspach . A special training for mayors took place in Schöneck -Turmberg and in Illkirch-Graffenstaden in Alsace . District economic advisor was the Chamber of Commerce President Clemens Kentrup , who was also the " State Commissioner for Baden's Economy". The craftsman functionary and military manager Robert Roth served as district inspector. Fritz Plattner , known as the racket, was the district chairman of the DAF until 1938 , the Heidelberg district leader Philipp Dinkel headed the district office for the NSV . The Lahr district leader Karl Gärtner was the Gauobmann the National Socialist Teachers League (known for the saying "It is not my main teacher or head teacher who is not bought a Nazi village at the foot."). As a senior official in the school sector, he and Andreas Hohlfeld ensured that teachers were loyal to the regime. Paul Schmitthenner (historian) , appointed professor in 1933 , appeared as a Gauredner and in 1940 became Minister of Culture and Rector of Heidelberg University. The Karlsruhe district leader Willi Worch became an assessor at the People's Court . Carl Schneider (doctor) headed the Racial Politics Office in the Gau from 1937 to 1940 and was involved in euthanasia as a T4 expert .

Gauleiter:

Deputy Gauleiter:

See also

literature

  • Horst Ferdinand: Köhler, Walter Friedrich Julius, Nazi politician, businessman. In: Baden-Württemberg biographies. Volume II, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-17-014117-1 , pp. 276-280 ( online )
  • Michael Kißener , Joachim Scholtyseck (ed.): The leaders of the province. Nazi biographies from Baden and Württemberg , Konstanz 1997

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Stadtwiki Karlsruhe
  2. Chronicle 1933-1945
  3. www.findbuch.at: address book
  4. ^ Rauh-Kühne: Regional Eliten, p. 99ff