A Gauleiter (German pronunciation: [ˈɡaʊlaɪtɐ] ⓘ) was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a Gau or Reichsgau.

The Frankish Realm and the Holy Roman Empire were both subdivided into Gaue (the plural form of Gau) which corresponds roughly with the English word "shire."

Though they were required to be approved by Hitler, this was usually a formality in these early years when he was still banned from speaking throughout most of Germany and had to rely on these home-grown leaders to organize the Party at the grass roots.

By creating the position of Gauleiter, Hitler provided a means for him to exert more direct control over the local Party organizations.

In these early years (1925-1927) it was not unusual for the local and regional organizations to be divided, dissolved, merged and renamed as the Party struggled to develop an improved organizational structure.

[10] At the local level, Gauleiters often were elected as city councilors, as mayors and as deputies to the Landtags of the German States (Länder) where they headed the Nazi Party parliamentary faction.

[11][12] Once in office, they proceeded to politicize all aspects of life within their control, and staffed civil service positions solely with candidates previously screened and approved by Party functionaries.

[13] In July 1932, Strasser, now the Party Reichsorganisationsleiter (National Organization Leader) attempted to impose an additional centralized control over the Gauleiters.

Therefore, they were subordinated to ten new officials with the title of Landesinspektor, mainly drawn from among the Gauleiter corps, each in charge of several Gaue within a larger geographic area.

[14] This reorganization was short-lived and was repealed on 15 December 1932, after Strasser's resignation in a policy dispute with Hitler over whether to join in a national coalition government as a junior partner or to hold out for the Chancellorship.

[17] On 2 June 1933 Hitler created the new political rank of Reichsleiter (Reich Leader) in the Nazi Party and conferred it on 16 individuals with areas of broad national policy responsibility (e.g., propaganda, agriculture, the press, youth education).

[18] After the Anschluss with Austria (12 March 1938) and the seizure of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia (30 September 1938) the newly annexed territories were eventually organized into eight Reichsgaue and placed under the administration of Reichsstatthalters, all of whom were also the local Gauleiters.

On their orders, their local Political Organizations, together with SA members, unleashed an orgy of violence, arson, looting and destruction, resulting in deaths, injuries and massive property loss among Germany's Jewish population.

[21] On the launching of World War II in Europe on 1 September 1939, fifteen Gauleiters were appointed Reich Defense Commissioners (Reichsverteidigungskommissar) one in each military district (Wehrkreis) of Germany and Austria.

[22] After the conquest and annexation of Polish territory in October 1939, the newly added areas were organized into two new Reichsgaue and subjected to rule by Reichsstatthalters who were also Nazi Party Gauleiters.

[23] In 1940-1941 as additional military conquests occurred, four Gauleiters were selected to concurrently administer other occupied lands not directly annexed to the Reich.

Granted the title of Reichskommissar, they ruled vast swaths of territory encompassing Norway, Belgium & Northern France, Ukraine and ”Ostland”.

Another six Gauleiters were named Chief of Civil Administration of areas adjacent to their Gaue in Alsace, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Lower Styria, Upper Carniola and Bezirk Bialystok.

They were charged with maximizing the mobilization of all internal manpower resources by registering men and women between the ages of sixteen and sixty for war-related work assignments.

[29] Towards the end of the war, the Gauleiters, in their capacity as Reich Defense Commissioners, were given a key role in implementing Hitler's scorched earth policy as laid out in the Nero Decree of 19 March 1945.

Most of them, particularly during the early years, were drawn from the cadre of "old fighters" that had helped Hitler forge the Party during the Kampfzeit (Time of Struggle).

Drawn to right wing, antisemitic and völkisch organizations, they gravitated to the Nazi Party in the immediate post-war years.

[33] Though their tenure in office fluctuated, once the geographical re-organizations and personnel instability of the early years had passed, it was not unusual for Gauleiters to remain in their posts until they died.

[31] Most Gauleiters were members of one or more of the Nazi Party's paramilitary units, the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Schutzstaffel (SS) or the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) in which they usually carried the rank of Obergruppenführer.

Both Gauleiter and Reichsleiter insignia was modified slightly to display a more pronounced national eagle crest, and both ranks were permitted to wear special party armbands.

[citation needed] Gauleiter also had the right to display a special vehicle flag when traveling, as a status symbol of their position.

[citation needed] All political leaders working at the Gau level had rhomboid collar tabs with red facings (not brown), with a dark wine-red (burgundy) colored piping around the outer edges.

[citation needed] The original insignia for a Gauleiter consisted of Army-styled collar tabs, accompanied by a braided shoulder cord worn on a brown Nazi Party shirt.