Emil Stürtz (15 November 1892 – missing 21 April 1945) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Nazi Party 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 t ...

official and politician who served as the ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to '' Reichsleiter'' and to ...

'' in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

from 1936 to 1945.

Early life

Stürtz was born in Wieps, a village outside of Allenstein in East Prussia. He grew up in

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 name ...

, and after attending the

Friedrich Bessel Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (; 22 July 1784 – 17 March 1846) was a German astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and geodesist. He was the first astronomer who determined reliable values for the distance from the sun to another star by the method ...

realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

'', he joined the merchant marine as a seaman in 1912. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, he joined the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

as a sailor. He served aboard the battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz and participated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. He transferred to the U-boat arm and served aboard U-128 until Spring 1918 when he was declared unfit for duty due to severe illness. He became a war pensioner and then worked in various jobs as a locksmith repairman and a driver in

Hattingen Hattingen is a town in the northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Hattingen is located on the south bank of the River Ruhr in the south of the Ruhr region. The town was first mentioned in 1 ...

Nazi career

On 28 December 1925, Stürtz joined the

National Socialist German Worker's Party 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 t ...

(membership number 26,929) and became the press and propaganda leader for the ''Ortsgruppe'' (Local Group) in Hattingen. He moved up to ''

Kreisleiter ''Kreisleiter'' (; "District Leader") was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed as a political rank between 1930 and 1945 and as a Nazi Party title from as early as 1928. The position of ''Kreisleiter'' was first formed to provide ...

'' (County Leader) in the city of Dortmund in 1926. By 1929 he became ''

Bezirksleiter ''Bezirksleiter'' (District Leader) was a Nazi Party title which was used in the early years of the Party's existence, beginning around 1926. History The position of ''Bezirksleiter'' was originally established around 1926 as the next higher orga ...

'' (District Leader) of the Siegerland district. In November of that year, he was elected a member of the ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

'' of the Province of Westphalia where he would serve until 1933 as the chairman of the Nazi faction. Stürtz next became Business Manager of Gau Westphalia in June 1930 and by September was elected to the national '' Reichstag'' for electoral district 18 (Westphalia-South). On 1 October of the same year, the party appointed him Deputy ''

'' of Gau Westphalia. When the Gau was divided in two on 1 January 1931, he remained Deputy ''Gauleiter'' in

Gau Westphalia-South The Gau Westphalia-South (German: ''Gau Westfalen-Süd'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the Arnsberg Region in the southern part of the Prussian province of Westphalia between 1933 and 1945. From 1931 to 1933, it was ...

. Upon the '' Machtergreifung'' (Nazi seizure of power) in 1933, Stürtz became chairman of the Provincial Committee for the Province of Westphalia. In 1935, he was made a Prussian Provincial Councilor (''Provinzialrat''). On 7 August 1936, Stürtz succeeded

Wilhelm Kube Wilhelm Kube (13 November 1887 – 22 September 1943) was a Nazi official and German politician. He was an important figure in the German Christian movement during the early years of Nazi rule. During the war he became a senior official in the o ...

as ''

'' of Gau Kurmark, and as ''

Oberpräsident The ''german: Oberpräsident, label=none'' (Supreme President) was the highest administrative official in the Prussian provinces. History The Oberpräsident of a Prussian province was the supreme representative of the Prussian crown, until its ...

'' of the Prussian Provinces of

and

Posen-West Prussia The Frontier March of Posen-West Prussia (german: Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen, pl, Marchia Graniczna Poznańsko-Zachodniopruska) was a province of Prussia from 1922 to 1938. Posen-West Prussia was established in 1922 as a province of the Free ...

, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in these provinces. He was also made a member of the

Prussian State Council The Prussian State Council (german: Preußischer Staatsrat) was the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1920 and 1933. The lower chamber was the Prussian Landtag (''Preußischer Landtag''). Implement ...

. At the next '' Reichstag'' election in April 1938, Stürtz was elected as a deputy for electoral constituency 5 (Frankfurt am Oder). Following some territorial restructuring, Gau Kurmark became the

Gau March of Brandenburg The Gau March of Brandenburg (German: ''Mark Brandenburg'') was formed in March 1933 initially under the name Gau Electoral March (German: ''Kurmark'') in Nazi Germany as a district within the Free State of Prussia. In January 1939, Kurmark was ren ...

on 31 January 1939 and Stürtz remained its leader. In September 1936, Stürtz joined the

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the old ...

(NSKK) with the rank of ''

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...

''. He would be promoted to '' Gruppenführer'' on 30 January 1937 and ''

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

'' on 30 January 1939.

World War II and disappearance

At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on 1 September 1939, Stürtz was appointed the

Reich Defense Commissioner Reich Defense Commissioner (German: ''Reichsverteidigungskommissar'', RVK) was a governmental position created in Nazi Germany at the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939. Charged with overall defense of the territory of the German Reich, th ...

''(Reichsverteidigungskommissar)'' for ''

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military distr ...

'' (Military District) III, which encompassed his Gau of Mark Brandenburg as well as

Gau Berlin The Gau Berlin was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the German capital Berlin. Before that, from 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area. From 1926 to 1928 Berlin was part of the ...

. Important sectors of the military and civilian war effort were now directly, or at least ''de facto'', subject to his control. On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of the Reich Defense Commissioners was changed from the ''Wehrkreis'' to the Gau level, and he remained Commissioner only in his Gau. In September 1944, Stürtz became leader of the ''

Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...

'' units within his Gau and was charged with constructing a defensive line against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

advance on the eastern front. Over 40,000 German and foreign laborers were compelled to engage in this effort. On 21 April 1945, during the Battle of Berlin, Stürtz went missing. After his widow searched for him unsuccessfully for ten years – even amongst the late repatriates (german: Spätheimkehrern) – Stürtz was officially declared dead on 24 August 1957 by the District Court of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, the city of his residence. The court fixed his date of death at 31 December 1945. It was assumed that he was captured by the Red Army and died in captivity.

References

Sources

* *Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. p. 513. *Lilla Joachim (ed.): The NSDAP Gauleiter, Koblenz, 2003, p. 93 (materials from the Federal Archives, No. 13) . * *Erich Stockhorst : 5000 Heads - Who Was Who in the Third Reich. Arndt, Kiel 2000, .

External website