The Gaue (singular: Gau) were the main administrative divisions of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945.

The Gaue were formed in 1926 as Nazi Party regional districts in Weimar Germany based on the territorial changes after the First World War. Die NS-Gaue , Deutsches Historisches Museum, accessed: 25 June 2008 The Gau system was established in 1934 as part of the Gleichschaltung process, replacing the de jure system of Länder (states) and Prussian provinces, which held no administrative purpose since the Enabling Act of 1933 and were reduced to rudimentary bodies. Each Gau was headed by an administrative leader, the Gauleiter, a high-ranking Nazi Party official with near-autocratic powers.

Germany consisted of 32 Gaue in 1934, eventually peaking at 42 Gaue with regions occupied in 1938 to early 1939 (Austria, Sudetenland, Memelland) and conquered during the Second World War incorporated into existing Gaue or organised as Reichsgaue, a special type of Gau where the Gauleiter also carried the position of Reichsstatthalter.The Organization of the Nazi Party & State The Nizkor Project, accessed: 25 June 2008 The Gaue system was dissolved on 8 May 1945, following the surrender of Nazi Germany.

Etymology Gau is an archaic Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or actual province, and used in Medieval times as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The term was revived by the Nazi Party in the 1920s as the name given to the regional associations of the party in Weimar Germany, based mainly along state and district lines.

Gaue, Reichsgaue and Länder The Gaue existed parallel to the German states, the Länder, and Prussian provinces throughout the Nazi period. Pro forma, the Administrative divisions of Weimar Germany were left in place. The plan to abolish the Länder was ultimately given up because Hitler shrank away from structural reforms, a so-called Reichsreform, fearing it would upset local party leaders. For the same reason, the borders of the Gaue remained unchanged within Germany throughout this time. The Gaue were only enlarged through the adding of occupied territories after 1938. Gau (NSDAP) - Kontinuität der Gaugliederung nach 1933 , Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008 While the Länder continued to exist, the real power on local level lay with the Gauleiters, not the Minister Presidents of the German states. The Gauleiters were directly appointed by Hitler and only answerable to him. In practice, interference from above was rare and their power was almost absolute.

Gaue established in 1934 English nameGerman nameHeadquartersEstablishedNotesBadenBadenKarlsruhe1934Formed from the state of Baden; in 1940-45 the Gau included the former French départements of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin and was renamed Baden-ElsaßBayreuthBayreuthBayreuth1934Formed from the eastern part of the state of Bavaria; originally named Bayrische Ostmark, renamed Gau Bayreuth in 1942; also incorporated parts of Czechoslovakia from 1938Cologne-AachenKöln-AachenCologne1934Formed from the north-central part of the Prussian province of the RhineDüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf1934Formed from the northern half of the Prussian province of the RhineEast PrussiaOstpreußenKönigsberg1934Formed from the Prussian Province of East Prussia; from 1939 also included territories annexed from PolandEastern HanoverOst-HannoverLüneburg1934Formed from the northern, central, and eastern parts of the Prussian Province of HanoverElectoral HesseKurhessenKassel1934Formed from the northern half of the Prussian province of Hesse-NassauEssenEssenEssen1934Formed from the northern tip of the Prussian province of the RhineFranconiaFrankenNuremberg1934Formed from the central part of the state of BavariaGreater BerlinGroß-BerlinBerlin1934Formed from the Prussian province of Greater BerlinHalle-MerseburgHalle-MerseburgHalle1934Formed from the southern half of the Prussian Province of SaxonyHamburgHamburgHamburg1934Formed from the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg Hesse-NassauHessen-NassauFrankfurt am Main1934Formed from the People's State of Hesse and the southern half of the Prussian province of Hesse-NassauKoblenz-TrierKoblenz-TrierKoblenz1934Formed from the southern half of the Prussian province of the Rhine; renamed Gau Moselland in 1942, following the incorporation of the formerly independent country of LuxembourgMagdeburg-AnhaltMagdeburg-AnhaltDessau1934Formed from the Free State of Anhalt and the northern half of the Prussian Province of SaxonyMain-FranconiaMainfrankenWürzburg1934Formed from the northwestern part of the state of BavariaMarch of BrandenburgMark BrandenburgBerlin1934Formed from the Prussian province of Province of BrandenburgMecklenburgMecklenburgSchwerin1934Formed from the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the Free State of Mecklenburg-SchwerinMunich-Upper BavariaMünchen-OberbayernMunich1934Formed from the southeastern part of the state of BavariaPomeraniaPommernStettin1934Formed from the Prussian Province of PomeraniaSaar-PalatinateSaarpfalzNeustadt an der Weinstraße1934Formed from the Bavarian Palatinate and the Prussian Saarland; renamed Gau Westmark in 1940 after the incooperation of parts of LorraineSaxonySachsenDresden1934Formed from the state of SaxonySchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinKiel1934Formed from the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein, the Free City of Lübeck and territory belonging to the Free State of OldenburgSilesiaSchlesienBreslau1934Formed from the Prussian provinces of Upper Silesia (with annexed parts of Poland since 1939) and Lower Silesia. In 1938 the provinces were also united into one; in 1941 both the province and the Gau were split in two. Southern Hanover-BrunswickSüdhannover-BraunschweigHanover1934Formed from the Free State of Brunswick and the southern and western parts of the Province of HanoverSwabiaSchwabenAugsburg1934Formed from the southwestern part of the state of BavariaThuringiaThüringenWeimar1934Formed from the state of Thuringia and adjacent territory from the Prussian Province of SaxonyWeser-EmsWeser-EmsOldenburg1934Formed from the Free State of Oldenburg (excluding outlying territories), the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the far western part of the Prussian Province of HanoverWestphalia-NorthWestfalen-NordMünster1934Formed from the Free State of Lippe, the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe and the northern half of the Prussian Province of WestphaliaWestphalia-SouthWestfalen-SüdDortmund1934Formed from the southern half of the Prussian Province of WestphaliaWürttemberg-HohenzollernWürttemberg-HohenzollernStuttgart1934Formed from the Free People's State of Württemberg and the Prussian Province of Hohenzollern

Reichsgaue established in the 1930s

New were established after the Anschluss of Austria and the incorporation of Sudetenland following the Munich Agreement. Southern parts of Czechoslovakia also gained by the Munich Agreement were not made part of Reichsgau Sudetenland, but incorporated into Reichsgaue Ostmark (formerly Austria).

English nameGerman nameHeadquartersEstablishedNotesCarinthiaKärntenKlagenfurt1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Carinthia and Eastern Tyrol, included from 1941 was Upper Carniola (), SloveniaLower DanubeNiederdonauKrems an der Donau1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Niederösterreich and northern Burgenland; included from 1939 were parts of southern Moravia. In 1943 Hitler toured the Gau and told Gauleiter Hugo Jury that the capital would be Brünn (Brno) in the near future.Bryant, C.C. (2007). Prague in black: Nazi rule and Czech nationalism, Harvard University Press, , p. 125SalzburgSalzburgSalzburg1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of SalzburgStyriaSteiermarkGraz1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Styria and southern part of Burgenland; included from 1941 was Lower Styria, Slovenia.SudetenlandSudetenlandReichenberg1938Formed from the predominantly German speaking parts of Czechoslovakia which were ceded to Germany after the Munich AgreementTyrol-VorarlbergTirol-VorarlbergInnsbruck1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg and the northern part of TyrolUpper DanubeOberdonauLinz1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Oberösterreich and Ausseerland, a part of Styria; included from 1939 were parts of southern BohemiaViennaWienVienna1938Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Vienna and surrounding parts of former Niederösterreich

Reichsgaue established during the Second World War

Of the territories annexed from Poland and the Free City of Danzig in 1939, Reichsgau Wartheland and Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia were created. Annexed territories of pre-war Poland not within these two Reichsgaue were incorporated into the neighboring Gaue East Prussia and Silesia. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as well as Alsace-Lorraine, annexed from pre-war France in 1940, were attached to the bordering Southwestern Gaue of Nazi Germany. English nameGerman nameHeadquartersEstablishedNotesDanzig–West PrussiaDanzig–WestpreußenDanzig1939Formed in the Free City of Danzig and the Polish region of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, which were both occupied by Germany in 1939, as well as the pre-1939 German Governorate of West Prussia within then East PrussiaWarthelandWarthelandPosen1939Formed primarily in the Polish region of the Poznań Voivodeship and incorporated areas of surrounding Voivodeships after the German occupation of Poland. Called Reichsgau Posen until January 1940, when it was renamed for the Warthe (Warta) river.

Auslandsgau There was also an extraterritorial Gau named Auslandsorganisation for party members overseas. Its headquarters were in Berlin. This Auslandsgau was considered to be the 43rd Gau of Nazi Germany.

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

On 15 March 1939, German troops invaded and occupied the rump state of Czechoslovakia that had existed after the Sudetenland had been annexed by Germany following the Munich Conference. On 16 March, Hitler signed a decree declaring the German-occupied territories of Bohemia and Moravia to be incorporated into "Greater Germany". They were not formally annexed, but were placed under the protection of Germany as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Ethnic Germans living in the area became citizens of Germany. A separate native government was retained, but a German Reichsprotektor was appointed who wielded effective executive control over the territory.Decree of 16 March 1939 establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

Two separate structures for its territorial administration existed within the protectorate.Teigh, Mikulas (1998). Bohemia in History. Cambridge University Press, p. 274. Administration of the government of the protectorate was divided into two Länder (states): Bohemia and Moravia, which were in turn sub-divided into a number of smaller units. The Nazi Party divided the area into four separate party districts but, instead of creating four new Gaue, they were assigned organizationally to the surrounding Party districts: Gau Bayreuth, Reichsgau Sudetenland, Reichsgau Lower Danube and Reichsgau Upper Danube. These two separate government and party divisions continued to co-exist in the protectorate for the entire duration of its existence.

General Government

Following the German invasion and conquest of Poland, Hitler signed a decree on 12 October 1939, declaring that the Polish territories occupied by the Germans would be placed under the administration of a Governor-General and would be known as the General Government of the Occupied Polish Territories. This came into effect on 26 October. On 22 July 1941, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the occupation of Eastern Galicia, Hitler signed a decree declaring that the region would be administered by the Governor-General of Poland from 1 August.