Reichsgau Carinthia
The Gau Kärnten was an administrative unit of the NSDAP , from which after the " Anschluss of Austria " in 1938 by the Ostmarkgesetz of April 14, 1939, a Reichsgau , one of the Alpine and Danube Reichsgaue .
History and structure
Party branches of the NSDAP also emerged in the Republic of Austria and in the German Reich since 1925, but have been illegal since 1933 because of the party ban. Gauleiter during this time were Hans vom Kothen until 1934 and Peter Feistritzer from 1936.
On March 11, 1938, in connection with the Anschluss of Austria, there were demonstrations by the National Socialists against the state government in the Carinthian cities of Klagenfurt and Villach . NSDAP - Gauleiter Franz Kutschera and Wladimir von Pawlowski forced by Governor Arnold viewfinder the transfer of the Office to Pawlowski. The next day, the entire administration of Carinthia, including the municipalities, was in the hands of the National Socialists, who thus took power in the first federal state of Austria.
From May 1938 Hubert Klausner became governor and party leader, after his death on February 12, 1939 Pawlowski followed again as governor. At the same time, Pawlowski was district president from August 1939 to June 1942, Gauhauptmann from March 1940 to December 1941 and from April 1940 representative of the Reich Governor in Carinthia, a prime example of the interdependence of party and state offices in the Nazi state. Fritz Kutschera was appointed provisionally to lead the party. On November 18, 1941, the Salzburg Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer was appointed NSDAP Gauleiter and Reich Governor of Carinthia. From 1941, Karl Pachnek and Friedrich Thimel were temporarily deputies .
In October 1938, East Tyrol was annexed to the Carinthia Party Gau. According to the Ostmark Act , it became a Reichsgau on May 1, 1939 . After the capitulation of Yugoslavia on April 17, 1941 ( Balkan campaign ), the Miessal and Upper Carniola were occupied by the German Reich and placed under the administration of Carinthia. On November 11, 1941, Gauleiter Rainer was appointed Reich Governor and Head of Civil Administration (CdZ) for the occupied territories of Carinthia and Carniola. As before in Salzburg, Rainer was appointed Reich Defense Commissioner on December 11, 1942 . After the fall of Italy on September 8, 1943, Rainer also took over the Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone as "Supreme Commissioner" and thus became head of civil administration in the Italian provinces of Friuli .
During the time of National Socialism , Carinthia made up around 6% of the population of Austria, 15.4% of the NSDAP members. There were 13,333 SS members in Carinthia .
literature
- Hellwig Valentin: The special case. Carinthian contemporary history 1918–2004. Hermagoras / Mohorjeva, Klagenfurt / Ljubljana / Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7086-0108-4 . (for section Time of National Socialism)
Web links
- Overview of the Gaue
- Illustrated list of Gauleiter
- Finding aid Gau Carinthia 1942
- Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. kaernten.html. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
- territory