| Gau Essen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gau ofNazi Germany | |||||||||
| 1928–1945 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Gau Essen on the left, bordering The Netherlands | |||||||||
| Capital | Essen | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• | 1,900 km2 (730 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• | 2,800,000 | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Gauleiter | |||||||||
• 1928–1945 | Josef Terboven | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1 August 1928 | ||||||||
| 8 May 1945 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
TheGau Essen was anadministrative division ofNazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the northern parts of thePrussianRhine Province. Before that, from 1928 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of theNazi Party in that area.
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 onward, after theNazi seizure of power, theGaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.[1]
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. 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.[1][2]
The position of Gauleiter in Essen was held byJosef Terboven throughout the history of the Gau.[3][4] After the Germanconquest of Norway in 1940 Hitler promoted TerbovenReichskommissar for theoccupied country, where he ruled with almost absolute power. He committed suicide on 8 May 1945 by detonating 50 kilograms of explosives in a bunker.[5] While Terboven was in Norway, the Deputy Gauleiter,Fritz Schlessmann, ran the Gau in an acting capacity.[6]
AsGauleiter, Schlessmann had responsibility for air raid defense measures in Essen throughout the war. As a large industrial center and the site of the Krupp armaments works, Essen was a frequent target ofAllied bombing raids. In the fall of 1944, Schlessmann was placed in charge of the localVolkssturm forces in Essen and was also charged with improving the fortifications along the area of theWestwall defensive line adjacent to his Gau. He was promoted to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer on 9 November 1944.[7]
From February to March 1945,Operation Veritable saw the allies advance further into the Gau.
The Gau had a size of 1,900 km2 (2,741 sq mi) and a population of 2,800,000, which placed it in mid-table for size and population in the list of Gaue.[8]
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8 February 1945 | Wyler | [9] |
| 8 February 1945 | Frasselt | [9] |
| 8-10 February 1945 | Kranenburg | [10][9] |
| 8-12 February 1945 | Kleve | [9] |
| 9 February 1945 | Materborn [de] | [9] |
| 17 February 1945 | Moyland | [11] |
| 19 February 1945 | Goch | [11] |
| 18 February-3 March 1945 | Uedem | [12] |
| 21 February 1945 | Wertzhof | [13] |
| 22-27 February 1945 | Weeze | [13][14] |
| 25 February 1945 | Grotendonk | [14] |
| 26 February-1 March 1945 | Kervenheim [de] | [14][15] |
| 27 February 1945 | Kalkar | [14] |
| 1 March 1945 | Baal (Hückelhoven) [de] | [16] |
| 1 March 1945 | Wemb | [16] |
| 3 March 1945 | Winnekendonk [de] | [16] |
| 3 March 1945 | Kevelaer | [16] |
| 3 March 1945 | Geldern | |
| 3 March 1945 | Walbeck (Geldern) [de] | [17] |
| 3 March 1945 | Straelen | |
| 4 March 1945 | Moers | [18] |
| 4 March 1945 | Issum | [18] |
| 4 March 1945 | Hamb [de] | [18] |
| 4 March 1945 | Marienbaum | [18] |
| 5 March 1945 | Sonsbeck | [18] |
| 5 March 1945 | Homberg | |
| 5 March 1945 | Rheinhausen | |
| 5 March 1945 | Kamp-Lintfort | [19] |
| 7 March 1945 | Rheinberg | [20] |
| 8 March 1945 | Xanten | [21] |
| 9 March 1945 | Veen [de] | [22] |
| 23 March 1945 | Dinslaken | |
| 26-27 March 1945 | Millingen [de] | [23] |
| 26-27 March 1945 | Gahlen [de] | [24] |
| 28 March 1945 | Haldern | [25] |
| 31 March 1945 | Emmerich | [26] |
| 7 April 1945 | Altenessen | [27] |
| 11 April 1945 | Essen | [27] |
| 12 April 1945 | Duisburg | [28] |
| 15 April 1945 | Werden | |
| 15 April 1945 | Kettwig |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
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| National | |
