TheGreater Hamburg Act (German:Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), in full theLaw Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (German:Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen), was passed by the government ofNazi Germany on 26 January 1937, and mandated the exchange of territories betweenHamburg and theFree State of Prussia. It became effective on 1 April 1937.[1]
Hamburg lost most of itsexclaves, includingGeesthacht andCuxhaven. In return, Hamburg was enlarged by including formerly Prussian towns such asAltona,Wandsbek, andHarburg-Wilhelmsburg as well as a number of villages. Altona and Wandsbek had been part of the Prussian province ofSchleswig-Holstein, while Harburg-Wilhelmsburg had been a part of the PrussianProvince of Hanover. This represented the formal merger of what had previously been referred to as the "Four-City Region".
Besides the regulations for Hamburg, the law incorporated most of theFree City of Lübeck into the Prussian province ofSchleswig-Holstein, though some smaller villages were included in theState of Mecklenburg. This constituted a victory for theGauleiter (regional party leader) ofSchleswig-Holstein, who had competed with the neighbouring Gauleiter ofMecklenburg for control of the city ever since 1933.
Until the Greater Hamburg Act, Lübeck had been a separate member state of the Reich. Two reasons for ending this status are cited:Adolf Hitler had a distaste for Lübeck ever since the city council prohibited him to campaign there in 1932,[2] and Lübeck formed part of the compensation given to Prussia for its losses to Hamburg (besides Lübeck, Prussia also gained Hamburg's territories ofGeesthacht, which was also incorporated into the province of Schleswig-Holstein, and Ritzebüttel (includingCuxhaven), which went to theProvince of Hanover.
