A (plural ) was an administrative subdivision created in a number of areas annexed by Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945.
Overview
The term was formed from the words (realm, empire) and , the latter a deliberately medieval-sounding word with a meaning approximately equivalent to shire. The were an attempt to resolve the administrative chaos resulting from the mutually overlapping jurisdictions and different boundaries of the NSDAP Party , placed under a Party , and the federal states, under a responsible to the Ministry of the Interior (in the Prussian provinces, the equivalent post was that of ). Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick had long desired to streamline the German administration, and the were the result: the borders of party and those of the federal states were to be identical, and the party also occupied the post of . Rival interests and the influence the wielded with Hitler prevented any reform from being undertaken in the "Old Reich" (), which meant Germany in its borders of 1937 before the annexation of other territories like Austria, the , and Bohemia, and the scheme was therefore implemented only in newly-acquired territories.
There were several : (German: Ostmark) formed from the formerly independent Austria , formed from a substantial part of the German-speaking outer rim areas of the former Czechoslovakia occupied in 1938 (German: Danzig-Westpreußen) and , formed from the Free City of Danzig and areas annexed from Poland
The East March was subsequently subdivided into seven smaller , generally coterminous with the former Austrian (federal provinces).
List of in Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia established in 1938 name German name Capital Established Notes Carinthia 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Carinthia and Eastern Tyrol, included from 1941 on parts of Slovenia. Lower Danube (see note) 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Lower Austria and northern ; included from 1939 on parts of southern Moravia, southeastern Bohemia and the two Bratislava boroughs of Devín and Petržalka. In 1943, Hitler toured and assured Hugo Jury that the capital would be () in the near future.Bryant, C.C. (2007). Prague in black: Nazi rule and Czech nationalism, Harvard University Press, , p. 125 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of .Styria 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Styria and southern part of ; included from 1941 on parts of Slovenia. 1938 Formed from the predominantly German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia that were ceded to Germany after the Munich Agreement. Tirol-Vorarlberg 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of and the northern part of Tyrol; became part of the Gau Swabia. Upper Danube 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Upper Austria and , a part of Styria; included from 1939 on parts of southern Bohemia. Vienna Vienna (Wien) 1938 Formed from the former Austrian federal state of Vienna and surrounding parts of former Lower Austria.
established during the Second World War name German name Capital Established Notes Danzig-West Prussia 1939 Formed in the Free City of Danzig and the Polish region of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, which were both occupied by Germany in 1939. Flanders Antwerp (Antwerpen) 1944 Formed in the Flemish Region of Belgium, comprising the Dutch-speaking provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, West Flanders, the of Brussels (except the city of Brussels itself), and the of Leuven in the then-province of Brabant (the present-day province of Flemish Brabant).WalloniaLiège (Lüttich) 1944 Formed in the Belgian region of Wallonia, comprising the Francophone provinces of Hainaut, Liège except the cantons of Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith, Luxembourg, Namur, and the of Nivelles in the contemporary province of Brabant (now part of the separate province of Walloon Brabant). () 1939 Formed primarily in the Polish region of the Poznań Voivodeship as well as southern areas of Pomeranian and the western half of Łódź Voivodeship after the German occupation of Poland.
Planned that were never established name German name Capital NotesUpper Rhine () Formed out of the and Alsace, formerly part of Alsace-Lorraine.Moselland Was established as a Gau, but not as Reichsgau. Formed out of the pre-war and Luxembourg. West March Was established as a Gau, but not as Reichsgau. Formed out of the Bavarian Rhine Palatinate, the former Territory of the Saar Basin, and parts of Lorraine that were a component of Alsace-Lorraine. Banat/Prince-Eugene-Land Belgrade (, or to be renamed to )To be formed out of the Yugoslavian territories of , Syrmia, and Banat, parts of Transylvania () and Baranya. To be named for Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), Austrian general who had a famous victory at the Siege of Belgrade (1688). To be inhabited by Danube Swabians. Beskidland () To be formed out of the southern parts of conquered Poland between the area west of to the San river in the east. It was to substantially correspond to the upper Vistula river basin. It was to be almost identical in size to and . Named for the Beskids mountain range. Brabant Not specified.To be formed out of central parts of Belgium. Burgundy () or Geneva () or Dijon To be formed out of the territories of eastern France (excluding and ) that were to be annexed into Germany after the war. Also to be included to the were parts of Western Switzerland. Galicia Lviv () Corresponding to the Podolian plain. It was to be almost identical in size to and . Gothland Simferopol (to be renamed to ) To be formed out of the Crimean peninsula and large parts of mainland Ukraine. Named for the Goths. North March Not specified. To be formed out of Denmark. Vandalland Not specified, probably Litzmannstadt (Łódź). To be formed out of part or all of the area of the General Government. Named for the Vandals. Vistulaland Warsaw () To be formed out of the middle Vistula river basin. It was to be almost identical in size to and . Westland/Holland Not specified. To be formed out of the Netherlands after its intended annexation into Germany.
Planned for a post-Nazi Germany
The conservative wing of the German resistance to Nazism, namely Ludwig Beck and Carl Goerdeler, had planned to divide all of Germany (in the borders of 1938 plus the pre-1918 Prussian lands) after a successful takeover of the government into Reichsgaue, modeled after the counties in the UK and the provinces of Prussia. According to Goerdelers 1941 memorandum Das Ziel («The Goal»), every Gau should have been self-administered by a Gau Landtag and overseen by a Oberpräsident (similar to a British lord-lieutenant). In every Gau, there should have been a Gau court (i. e. Oberlandesgericht), a Gau attorney, and a Gau president of each the Reichsbahn, the Reichspost, and the revenue services. nameGerman nameNotesEast PrussiaOstpreußenTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of East Prussia in the 1918 bordersWest PrussiaWestpreußenTo be formed out of the Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen, roughly corresponding to the former Province of West PrussiaWarthelandWarthelandTo be formed out of the Reichsgau Wartheland, roughly corresponding to the former Province of PosenUpper SilesiaOberschlesienTo be formed out of the Province of Upper SilesiaLower SilesiaNiederschlesienTo be formed out of the Province of Lower SilesiaSudetenlandSudetenlandUpper SaxonyObersachsenTo be formed out of Saxony and probably the later Prussian Province of Halle-Merseburg, capital in DresdenMiddle SaxonyMittelsachsenTo be formed out of Anhalt and the later Prussian Province of MagdeburgBrandenburgBrandenburgTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of BrandenburgBerlinBerlinTo be formed out of Greater BerlinPomeraniaPommernTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of PomeraniaMecklenburgMecklenburgSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of Schleswig-HolsteinLower SaxonyNiedersachsenTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of Hanover, the State of Brunswick and Bremen (state)HamburgHamburgOldenburgOldenburgTo be formed out of the State of OldenburgWestphaliaWestfalenTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of WestphaliaRhinelandRheinlandTo be formed out of the Prussian Regierungsbezirke of Koblenz, Düsseldorf, Cologne and AachenHesse-NassauHessen-NassauTo be formed out of the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, capital in KasselThuringiaThüringenTo be formed out of the State of Thuringia and the Prussian Regierungsbezirk ErfurtSaar-PalatinateSaarpfalzTo be formed out of the Territory of the Saar Basin, the Bavarian Palatinate and the Regierungsbezirk TrierHesseHessenTo be formed out of the State of Hesse, capital in DarmstadtAlsaceElsassTo be formed out of the German-speaking parts of Alsace and probably German Lorraine, with a high degree of autonomyBadenBadenTo be formed out of the State of BadenWürttembergWürttembergTo be formed out of the State of Württemberg, Vorarlberg and probably Bavarian SwabiaBavariaBayernTo be formed out of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirke Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate and Tyrol (probably including South Tyrol), capital in MunichFranconiaFrankenTo be formed out of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirke Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, capital in NurembergAustriaÖsterreichTo be formed out of Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Salzburg and Carinthia
See also Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
References Citations
Sources
, Historical map book, published: 1990, publisher: Orbis Verlag – Munich, Shoa.de - List of Gaue and Gauleiter website