| Gau Berlin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gau ofNazi Germany | |||||||||
| 1928–1945 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag .svg) Coat of arms | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Capital | Berlin | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Gauleiter | |||||||||
• 1928–1945 | Joseph Goebbels | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 1 October 1928 | |||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
TheGau Berlin was anadministrative division ofNazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the German capitalBerlin. Before that, from 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of theNazi Party in that area. From 1926 to 1928 Berlin was part of the Gau Berlin-Brandenburg which was split into two separate Gaue on 1 October 1928.[1]
The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in aparty conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after theNazi seizure of power, theGaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.[2]
At the head of each Gau stood aGauleiter, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of theSecond World War, with little interference from above. The local Gauleiters 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, theVolkssturm and the defense of the Gau.[2][3]
The position of Gauleiter in Berlin was held byJoseph Goebbels throughout the history of the Gau.[4][5] Goebbels,Reich Minister of Propaganda, was one ofAdolf Hitler's closest associates and, along with his family, committed suicide on 1 May 1945.[6]
