Gubernatorial title used in the German Empire and Nazi Germany
Reichskommissar
(
German:
[??a?csk?m?saː??]
, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in
German history
, was an official
governatorial
title used for various public offices during the period of the
German Empire
and
Nazi Germany
.
German Empire
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Domestic
[
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In the unified
German Empire
(after 1871), Reichskommissars were appointed to oversee special tasks. For instance, there was a Reichskommissar for
emigration
(
Reichskommissar fur das Auswanderungswesen
) in
Hamburg
.
Presumably the same title is rendered as "German Imperial Commissioner" in the case of
Heligoland
, a strategically located once-Danish island in the
North Sea
, formally handed over to Germany by the UK on 9 August 1890 (under the
Heligoland?Zanzibar Treaty
) and on 15 December 1890 formally annexed to Germany (after 18 February 1891 part of the Prussian province of
Schleswig-Holstein
): 9 August 1890 ? 1891 Adolf Wermuth (b. 1855 ? d. 1927)
Colonial
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The title of Reichskommissar was used during the German Empire for the governors of most of the
Schutzgebiete
(a German term literally meaning
protectorate
, but also applied to ordinary
colonies
).
In West Africa
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- in
Kamerun
(modern-day
Cameroon
) * Reichskommissare (Commissioners)
- 14 July 1884 ? 19 July 1884
Gustav Nachtigal
(b. 1834 ? d. 1885)
- 19 July 1884 ? 1 April 1885
Maximilian Buchner
(acting) (b. 1846 ? d. 1921)
- 1 April 1885 ? 4 July 1885
Eduard von Knorr
(acting) (b. 1840 ? d. 1920); next came a list of governors until 4 March 1916 when *
- in
Togo
the Reich Reichskommissare since 5 July 1884 proclamation of the
Togoland
protectorate:
- 5 July 1884 ? 6 July 1884
Gustav Nachtigal
(b. 1834 ? d. 1885), the Reichskommissar for West Africa *
- 6 July 1884 ? 26 June 1885
Heinrich Randad
, the provisional
Consul
- 26 June 1885 ? May 1887
Ernst Falkenthal
(b. 1858 ? d. 1911)
- July 1887 ? 17 October 1888
Jesko von Puttkamer
(acting) (1st time) (b. 1855 ? d. 1917)
- 17 October 1888 ? 14 April 1891
Eugen von Zimmerer
(b. 1843 ? d. 1918)
- 14 April 1891 ? 4 June 1892 Vacant
- 4 June 1892 ? November 1893 Jesko von Puttkamer (2nd time); the same stayed on as the first of two
Landeshauptleute
('Land captains'), until 13 August 1895; the second (18 November 1895 ? 18 April 1898
August Kohler
, b. 1858 ? d. 1902) was also the first of the Governors (since 1 January 1905 as German colony of Togoland, until the British conquered it August 1914)
German South-West Africa
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- from 24 April 1884 as German South West Africa protectorate, only incumbent (7 October 1884 ? May 1885) Gustav Nachtigal (b. 1834 ? d. 1885;
see above
), staying on shortly for the status transition
- from 30 April 1885 ? 1889 under the rule of the private
German South West Africa Colonial Company
(
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft fur Sudwest-Afrika
), only incumbent (May 1885 ? August 1890):
Heinrich Ernst Goring
(acting) (b. 1839 ? d. 1913)
- again as imperial protectorate (?)
- first the abovementioned Heinrich Ernst Goring, de facto staying on
- August 1890 ? March 1891
Louis Nels
(acting) (b. 1855 ? d. 1910)
- March 1891 ? November 1893
Curt von Francois
(b. 1852 ? d. 1931), who stayed on when the country was declared on 14 September 1892 the German crown colony of South West Africa, and later again as the first of two
Landeshauptleute
("captains of the territory")
In East Africa
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- in
Tanganyika
, the area acquired on 17 February 1885 by
Carl Peters
for the
Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft
(DOAG, '
German East Africa Company
', that was initially under an Administrator: 27 May 1885 ? 8 February 1888 Karl Peters), since the proclamation of the German East African protectorate (7 May 1885 ? 1 July 1890) over
Witu
in Kenya; contested by Britain; on 28 April 1888 Germany obtains a lease of the coastal strip from the
Sultan
of
Zanzibar
), a single
Reichskommissar
is appointed (8 February 1888 ? 21 February 1891:
Hermann von Wissmann
(b. 1853 ? d. 1905), after him Governors of 1 January 1891 when proclaimed German East Africa colony (
Deutsch Ostafrika
), ending the 'private' DOAG rule.
In Oceania
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- Nauru
, since 21 October 1887 a German protectorate, was under the following
Reichskommissare
:
Nazi Germany
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The title of
Reichskommissar
was given by
Adolf Hitler
to a number of
Nazi
governors, mainly in several
occupied countries
during
World War II
, but also before the war to reintegrate former Prussian territory regained from France, as well as various other regions inhabited by
ethnic Germans
. Depending on circumstances they could be severely dictatorial and repressive, most notably
Erich Koch
in
Ukraine
.
Domestic & annexed (ethnically German)
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Saar Territory
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A
plebiscite
was held in the
Territory of the Saar Basin
(presently
Saarland
) on 13 January 1935: 90.3% of those voting wished to join
Germany
rather than join
France
.
Josef Burckel
(b. 1895 ? d. 1944) was appointed on 1 March 1935 as
Reichskommissar fur die Ruckgliederung des
Saarlandes
, then changed his style from 17 June 1936 to
Reichskommissar fur das Saarland
, and from 8 April 1940 to
Reichskommissar fur die
Saarpfalz
; finally from 11 March 1941, he was made
Reichsstatthalter
in der "
Westmark
"
(the region's new name, meaning "Western
March
or Border"), until his death on 28 September 1944 when he was succeeded by
Willi Stohr
(b. 1903 also NSDAP), who remained in office until 21 March 1945.
Sudetenland
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After the
Sudetenland
region of
Czechoslovakia
was annexed by Germany on 1 October 1938, it was under a Military governor (
Wilhelm Keitel
; 1 October 1938 ? 20 October 1938), until
Konrad Henlein
was appointed Reichskommissar of the territories on 21 October 1938. On 1 May 1939 a regular 'domestic'
Reichsgau
,
Reichsgau Sudetenland
was created; Henlein stayed on as
Reichsstatthalter
until the region was re-incorporated into
Czechoslovakia
on 4 May 1945.
Vienna
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1 May 1939 ? 1 April 1940 Josef Burckel (b. 1895 ? d. 1944) NSDAP, in fact the maintained last Austrian Premier of 15 October 1938 constituted metropolitan capital city-entity Gross-Wien (Greater Vienna), is in transitional office, then the same is made the first of two
Reichsstatthalter
(he until 10 August 1940), equivalent to a
Gauleiter
in Germany proper.
Northern and Western Europe
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Norway
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After the Norwegian king and his government fled during the
German invasion of the country
and the failure of a
coup d'etat
by the fascist politician
Vidkun Quisling
, Hitler appointed a
Reichskommissar fur die besetzten Norwegischen Gebiete
(Reich Commissioner for the occupied Norwegian territories) on 24 April 1940. The office had two consecutive Reichskommissars with extensive authority:
- 24 April 1940 ? 7 May 1945 ?
Josef Terboven
, NSDAP. He took up residence in the Crown Prince's manor at
Skaugum
. Answerable only to Hitler, Terboven initially tried to negotiate with the Norwegian
Storting
to establish a civilian administration which would be willing to sign a peace treaty with Germany. After the collapse of these negotiations, Terboven on 25 September 1940 proclaimed the deposition of King
Haakon VII
and his
cabinet-in-exile
and outlawed all political parties except the Norwegian fascist party
Nasjonal Samling
. Terboven committed suicide during the night of 7 May 1945, just before the surrender of the German forces in Norway became effective.
- 7 May 1945 ? 8 May 1945 ?
Franz Bohme
, commander-in-chief of German military forces in Norway, assumed Terboven's responsibilities as acting Reichskommissar until Allied forces took control and had him arrested.
Netherlands
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After the
German invasion of the country
and the Dutch government and crown's evacuation and exile, the
Netherlands
was placed under the command of two successive military governors:
The governorship was succeeded by a more permanent civil administration led by
Reichskommissar fur die besetzten niederlandischen Gebiete
(Reich Commissioner for the occupied Dutch territories):
Belgium and Northern France
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Belgium
was initially placed under a
Militarverwaltung
, headed by military governors. The country was joined administratively to "North France", i.e. the adjacent French
departements
Nord
and
Pas-de-Calais
. This was done both for security reasons and geopolitical ideology of expansionism: the area was to be used as a staging ground in
an expected invasion of Britain
, but also in order to prepare a future "
re-claim
" of
French Flanders
in Northern France as a historic part of Germanic
Flanders
. The
Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France
had two successive governors:
This situation continued until July 1944, when a
Reichskommissar fur Belgien-Nordfrankreich
was appointed:
In December 1944, when the Allies had already liberated virtually all of Belgium, its territory was split up into three
Gau
-type entities as integral ("Germanic") parts of the Reich: the bi-cultural Belgian capital
Brussels
remained directly under the German
Reichskommissar
as the
District of Brussels
, but the bulk of the country was divided ethno-linguistically and placed under collaborating Belgian fascist party leaders (on paper) as
Gauleiters
and with
Fuhrer
-imitating titles in their national languages:
Gauleiter of
Reichsgau Flandern
(
Flanders
) supposedly including
French Flanders
in Allied-liberated North France, and National leader of the Flemish People (
Dutch
:
Landsleider van het Vlaamsche Volk
) as well as "Head of the Flemish Liberation Committee" (
Hoofd van het Vlaamsche Bevrijdingscomite
):
Gauleiter of
Reichsgau Wallonien
(
Wallonia
, and Leader of the Walloon People (
French
:
Chef du Peuple Wallon
):
Soviet territories
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Before the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa
(the eastern front campaign against the
Soviet Union
) on 22 June 1941, the Nazi ideologist
Alfred Rosenberg
suggested the administrative division of conquered Soviet territory in the following
Reichskommissariats
, only the first two of which would become reality through military success:
This suggested an intention to destroy
Russia
as a political entity, as the Nazis organised the areas adjacent to
Greater Germany
's eastern provinces in accordance with the
geopolitical
Lebensraum
idea (
Drang nach Osten
), to benefit future "
Aryan
" generations. When
German
forces entered Soviet territory, they immediately implemented this administrative plan instating the
Reichskommissariat
of "Ostland" in the Baltic lands and "Ukraine" in Ukraine, headed by
Hinrich Lohse
and
Erich Koch
respectively. These administrators put in practice the intended measures during the whole of their administrative period, until 1943?44, when the Germans after the
Battle of Kursk
were gradually driven out by force.
Ostland
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On 17 July 1941, the Reichskommissariat Ostland ("Eastland") was established, soon uniting German-occupied
Lithuania
,
Latvia
(from 1 September 1941) and
Estonia
(from 5 December 1941) and
Belarus
. Ostland was organized into four General Districts (
Generalbezirke
); only the (Latvian) capital city of
Riga
(
Gebiet Riga Stadt
) was directly administered by the
Reichskommissar fur das Ostland
. The incumbents were:
- 17 July 1941 ? 26 September 1944 ?
Hinrich Lohse
(b. 1896 ? d. 1964), NSDAP
- 26 September 1944 ? 2 February 1945 ? Erich Koch (b. 1896 ? d. 1986), NSDAP (de facto ousted on 13 October 1944 when the Soviet
Red Army
took Riga, although Ostland wasn't officially dissolved until 2 February 1945)
Ukraine
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The territory in
Ukraine
occupied by Germany since 25 June 1941 initially fell under a military governor:
- 25 June 1941 ? 31 August 1941 ? Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (b. 1875 ? d. 1953)
The Reichskommissariat Ukraine was established on 20 August 1941, under a
Reichskommissar fur die Ukraine
. The incumbents were:
- 20 August 1941 ? 6 October 1943 ?
Erich Koch
(b. 1896 ? d. 1986), NSDAP
- 1942 ? 30 September 1943 ? Paul Dargel (acting for Koch) (b. 1903 ? d. 19..), NSDAP
- October 1943 ? 1944 ?
Curt von Gottberg
(b. 1896 ? d. 1945), NSDAP
Moskowien
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Central Russia was never brought under sufficient German control to permit its transfer to civilian administration, but a designated
Reichskommissar fur Moskowien
was appointed on 17 July 1941:
[1]
[2]
Kaukasien
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The Caucasus was never brought under sufficient German control to permit its transfer to civilian administration, but a designated
Reichskommissar fur die Kaukasien
was appointed on 17 July 1941:
[2]
[3]
See also
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References
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]
- ^
Kay, Alex J. (2006).
Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940?1941
, p. 182.
Berghahn Books
.
[1]
- ^
a
b
Decree of the Fuehrer concerning the administration of the newly-occupied Eastern territories, dated 17 July 1941.
[2]
- ^
Kay, p. 181.
External links
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