[1] Gerland joined the Nazi Party in December 1929 and became Kreisleiter (County Leader) in Kreis Hofgeismar from September 1930 to January 1932.

After the Nazi seizure of power, he became head of the provincial office of the Reich Ministry of Propaganda from May to November 1934.

He succeeded Karl Weinrich, who had been removed from these posts for abandoning the city of Kassel during an air raid on 22 October.

[3] In the spring of 1945, with the American Army invading his Gau, he received high praise from Joseph Goebbels.

In his diary entry of 2 April 1945, Goebbels noted that Gerland was conducting himself "superbly," adding, "I would have expected this from [him] anyway.