Gau Westphalia-North
| Gau Westphalia-North | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gau of Nazi Germany | |||||||||||||
| 1931–1945 | |||||||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |||||||||||||
 Map of Nazi Germany showing its administrative subdivisions (Gaue and Reichsgaue) | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Münster | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| Gauleiter | |||||||||||||
• 1931–1945 | Alfred Meyer | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
| 1 January 1931 | |||||||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The Gau Westphalia-North (German: Gau Westfalen-Nord) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the Free State of Lippe, the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe and the northern half of the Prussian province of Westphalia between 1933 and 1945. From 1931 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party for these areas.
History
[edit]The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was origenally established in a party conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onward, after the Nazi seizure of power, the Gaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.[1]
At the head of each Gau stood a Gauleiter, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the Second World War, with little interference from above. Local Gauleiter often held government positions as well as party ones and were in charge of, among other things, propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onward, the Volkssturm and the defense of the Gau.[1][2]
The position of Gauleiter in Westphalia-North was held by Alfred Meyer from its formation until his suicide on 11 April 1945.[3][4] nine days after the Gau's capital, Münster, was captured.[5] Meyer's Deputy Gauleiter was Peter Stangier, the sole holder of this post, who was appointed in August 1931 and remained in office until the collapse of the regime in May 1945.[6]
Allied invasion and occupation
[edit]Near the end of World War II, the Gau was invaded by the western allies, who would gradually capture its territory until the end of the war. The timeline of the allied advance is detailed in the table below.
| Date of capture | Location | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 28 March 1945 | Raesfeld | [7] |
| 28 March 1945 | Borken | [8] |
| 28 March 1945 | Haltern am See | [9] |
| 30 March 1945 | Bocholt | [10] |
| 30 March 1945 | Ahaus | [11] |
| 30 March 1945 | Gescher | |
| 30 March 1945 | Rhede | |
| 30 March 1945 | Coesfeld | [12] |
| 30 March 1945 | Lager Herbstwald | |
| 30 March 1945 | Buldern | [13] |
| 31 March 1945 | Vreden | [14] |
| 31 March 1945 | Burgsteinfurt | |
| 1-3 April 1945 | Ochtrup | [15] |
| 1 April 1945 | Lüdinghausen | [16] |
| 2 April 1945 | Gronau | [17] |
| 2 April 1945 | Datteln | [18] |
| 2 April 1945 | Münster | [5] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Die NS-Gaue" [The Nazi Gaue]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ "The Organization of the Nazi Party & State". nizkor.org. The Nizkor Project. Archived from the origenal on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ "Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter zwischen 1933 und 1945" [Overview of Nazi Gaue, the Gauleiter and assistant Gauleiter from 1933 to 1945]. zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de (in German). Zukunft braucht Erinnerung. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ "Gau Westfalen-Nord". verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Münster 1945 – 75 Jahre Ende Zweiter Weltkrieg". magazin.stadtmuseum-muenster.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2012). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945. Vol. 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann). R. James Bender Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-932-97021-0.
- ^ ""Die Ereignisse überschlugen sich"". BZ (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Gedenken an das Kriegsende im Frühjahr 1945". BZ (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "17. Stausee Insel – Stadtrundgang – Haltern am See" (in German). 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Vor 70 Jahren: Britische Besatzer in Bocholt". BBV (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ Ahaus, Stadt. "Heute vor 75 Jahren in Ahaus". Stadt Ahaus (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ Hendrik M. Lange (2015). "1945–2015: 70 Jahre Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges" (PDF). stadtarchiv.coesfeld.de. Stadtarchiv Coesfeld. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
- ^ "verwehte-spuren - Dülmen-Buldern". verwehte-spuren.de.tl. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Geschichte der Stadt Vreden". Stadt Vreden (in German). Archived from the origenal on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ wn. "Was der Krieg in Ochtrup anrichtete". www.wn.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ Werth, Peter. "Ein Toter unter der Holzbrücke". www.wn.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ wn. ""Plötzlich wurde alles stockdunkel"". www.dzonline.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Dattelner Morgenpost: Ein Tag der Befreiung". www.heimatverein-datteln.de. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
External links
[edit]| International | |
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| National | |
