Gauleiter

Gauleiter

A "Gauleiter" was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP (more commonly known as the Nazi Party) or the head of a "Gau" or of a "Reichsgau".

Etymology

The German word "Leiter" means "leader", whilst "Gau" was an old word for a region of the Reich, once ruled by a Frankish Gaugraf; it translates most closely to the English shire. "Gau" was one of the many archaic words from medieval German history that the Nazis revived for their own purposes.

History

The title of Gauleiter was first established in 1925 after the Nazi Party reorganized following the failed Beer Hall Putsch. By 1928, Gauleiter had also become a Nazi paramilitary rank, and would eventually become the second-highest such position, ranking only below the rank of "Reichsleiter" (roughly translated: "National leader").

Political position

In theory, a Gauleiter was merely a representative of the Nazi Party who served to coordinate regional Nazi party events and also served to "advise" the local government. In practice, Gauleiters were the unquestioned rulers of their particular areas of responsibility. The legal governmental establishment merely existed as a rubber stamp for the Gauleiter.

The Gauleiter was the highest ranking political leader at the "Gau" level of political administration within the Reich, with the "Reich" (national) level the highest, "Gau" (shire, prefecture, province) second-highest, "Kreis" ("circle", i.e. district or county) third-highest, and "Ort" (municipal) level the lowest. There were two additional, lower local levels ("Block" and "Zelle", describing a "party cell"). Political leaders from the "Ort" level and higher wore official uniforms, with the piping and background color of the uniform collar tabs indicating the administrative level.

Insignia

The insignia for the rank of "Gauleiter" consisted of two oak leaves worn on a brown colored collar patch. The "Stellvertreter-Gauleiter", ("Deputy-Gauleiter") wore a single oak leaf.

All political leaders working at Gau level had rhomboid-shaped collar tabs with red facings (not brown), with a dark wine-red (burgundy) colored piping around the outer edges*.

Reich level collar tabs had a bright crimson facing, with gold piping; Kreis level tabs had a dark chocolate brown facing, with white piping, while Ort level tabs had a light brown facing with light blue piping. The political leader collar-tab system was quite complicated and underwent four changes (complexity increasing with each change); the final (fourth) pattern as described above, was introduced around the end of 1938—by this time, with many more job positions within each level; this made the fourth pattern collar tab rank system by far the most complicated of all.

ee also

* List of Gauleiters

References

* Westermann, "Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • GAULEITER — Chef de région (Gau ) du parti national socialiste (N.S.D.A.P.), dont la fonction est créée par Hitler en 1925. Il y a alors trente quatre gauleiters pour l’Allemagne, sept pour l’Autriche, la Sarre, les Sudètes et Dantzig. À partir de 1933,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • gauleiter — GÁULEITER, gauleiteri, s.m. Conducător al unui district din Germania nazistă sau al unui teritoriu ocupat de Germania nazistă. [pr.: lai tăr] – Din germ. Gauleiter. Trimis de gall, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  GAULEITER s.m. Conducător al unui… …   Dicționar Român

  • Gauleiter — er en betegnelse for en administrativ leder af nazistpartiets største administrative enhed. Den blev anvendt af nazisterne i Tyskland. En dansk betegnelse kunne være Nazistisk partiområdeleder eller Rigsstatsholder i en landsdel. Ordet har sin… …   Danske encyklopædi

  • gauleiter — s. m. Chefe de um distrito na Alemanha nacional socialista e nos territórios ocupados ligados ao Reich.   ‣ Etimologia: palavra alemã, de Gau, distrito + Leiter, chefe …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • Gauleiter — Dieser Artikel stellt den Parteiaufbau der NSDAP dar. Zur ihrer Ideologie siehe Nationalsozialismus. Zu dem Aufbau des von den Nationalsozialisten errichteten Staatswesens siehe Deutsches Reich 1933 bis 1945, zu dessen Bezeichnung siehe Drittes… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gauleiter — Le Gauleiter est à la fois responsable régional politique du NSDAP et responsable administratif d un Gau, subdivision territoriale de l Allemagne nazie. Sommaire 1 Contexte historique 2 Missions et prérogatives 3 Insignes …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gauleiter — Banderín con el rango de Gauleiter para su vehículo oficial. Gauleiter fue el término en alemán utilizado en el Partido Nazi (NSDAP) para los líderes de Zona (Gau), que era la forma organizativa más grande del partido a nivel nacional. Este cargo …   Wikipedia Español

  • gauleiter — noun Etymology: German, from Gau party district in Nazi Germany + Leiter leader Date: 1936 1. a. a district leader in Nazi Germany who served as a provincial governor b. a subordinate political official resembling a Nazi gauleiter in function or… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • gauleiter — tudi gavlajter ja [gáu̯lájt ] m (ȃ á) v nacistični Nemčiji pokrajinski vodja nacistične stranke: bil je gauleiter na okupiranem ozemlju …   Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika

  • gauleiter — /gow luy teuhr/, n. the leader or chief official of a political district under Nazi control. [1935 40; < G, equiv. to Gau region + Leiter director] * * * …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”