Gauleiter

A Gauleiter (German pronunciation: [ˈɡaʊlaɪtɐ]) 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. The word can be singular or plural, depending on the context. Gauleiter was the second highest Nazi Party paramilitary rank, subordinate only to the higher rank Reichsleiter and to the position of Führer. During World War II, the rank of Gauleiter was obtained only by direct appointment from Adolf Hitler.

The first use of the term Gauleiter by the Nazi Party was in 1925 after Adolf Hitler refounded the Nazi party following the failed Beer Hall Putsch. The name derives from the German word Gau and Leiter (meaning leader). The word Gau is an old term for a region of the German Reich. The Frankish Realm and the Holy Roman Empire were subdivided in Gaue (Plural from Gau), which corresponds roughly with the english word "shire". It is stil in use today for some regions in Belgium and Switzerland, and in the modern German states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (see: Gau Legacy).

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