Gau Bayreuth (until June 1942, ''Gau Bayerische Ostmark'' (English: Bavarian Eastern March)) was an administrative division of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

formed by the 19 January 1933 merger of Gaue in

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau- ...

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

and

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. It was in existence from 1933 to 1945.

History

The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after the Nazi seizure of power, the ''Gaue'' increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany. At the head of each Gau stood a

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 ...

, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. Local Gauleiters were in charge of propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onwards, 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, ...

and the defence of the Gau. The ''Gau Bayerische Ostmark'' was formed in 1933, when Hans Schemm, the gauleiter of ''Oberfranken'', united the three ''Gaue'' of ''Oberpfalz'', ''Niederbayern'' and ''Oberfranken'' into one in an internal power struggle. The term ''Bayerische Ostmark'' was coined after 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 ...

for the region to refer to the fact that the area now bordered the new

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, a country perceived as hostile to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The term ''

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

'' ( en, March) was historically used in

Imperial Germany The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...

for border regions to hostile neighbors. It was the only one of the Bavarian ''Gaue'' to incorporate more than one ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'', covering three of them. Hans Schemm led the ''Gau'' until his death in a plane accident in 1935; his successor, Fritz Wächtler, could not muster the same popularity with the population of the region. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, parts of this country were incorporated in the ''Gau''. The districts (German: ''Kreis'') of Bergreichenstein, Markt Eisenstein and Prachatitz were added to the ''Gau''. From 1938, the ''Gau'' was also home to the

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

and its many subcamps. Because the ''Gau Bayerische Ostmark'' was not a border region any more, it was renamed ''Gau Bayreuth'' in June 1942. Wächtler was shot on orders of Hitler, having left his capital Bayreuth in April 1945. He was replaced by Ludwig Ruckdeschel, whose reign until the surrender of Nazi Germany was very brief.Bayerische Ostmark, 1933-45
Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 27 June 2008

Gauleiter

The Gauleiter of Gau Bayreuth: *

Hans Schemm Hans Schemm (6 October 1891 – 5 March 1935) was an educator who became a prominent Nazi Party official. He served as ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Bayreuth and Bavarian State Minister for Education and Culture until his death in an airplane accident. ...

- 19 January 1933 to 5 March 1935 *

Fritz Wächtler Fritz Wächtler (7 January 1891 – 19 April 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who served as the ''Gauleiter'' of the eastern Bavarian administrative region of Gau Bayreuth. Trained as a primary school teacher, he also became head ...

- 5 December 1935 to 19 April 1945 * Ludwig Ruckdeschel - 19 April 1945 to 8 May 1945 Ludwig Ruckdeschel was the deputy ''Gauleiter'' from 1 February 1933 to June 1941. In this position, he led the ''Gau'' in an acting position from Hans Schemm's death to the appointment of Fritz Wächtler in 1935. After Wächtler's execution for defeatism by an '' SS'' squad in 1945, he became ''Gauleiter'' himself.

References

External links

Illustrated list of Gauleiter
{{coord missing, Bavaria Bayreuth Former states and territories of Bavaria 1933 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany Bayreuth