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

• Establishment

1 January 1931

• Disestablishment

8 May 1945

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	Free State of Prussia (1933–1935)
	Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe
	Free State of Lippe

North Rhine-Westphalia

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

The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally 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

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 [de]
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

^ ^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. 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). 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.