Reichsstatthalter
The term Reichsstatthalter ("imperial lieutenant") was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party (republican) Nazi Third Reich.
"Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine [edit]
After Bismarck's creation, the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria (nearly the whole German Confederation), defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the French were forced to cede the largely German speaking Alsace (Elsaß) and Lorraine (Lothringen) to the Hohenzollern dynasty's new-formed German Empire. While the Reich in itself was a federal state, composed of 25 subjects, the newly annexed area was placed under direct control of Emperor William I. The office of Reichsstatthalter as a form of governor was introduced in 1879 (before it had one Oberpräsident, 1 September 1871 - 30 September 1879) in the process of gradually transforming Alsace-Lorraine into a federal state equal to the original 25. The office was abolished when Alsace and Lorraine was ceded to France after losing World War I.
| October 1, 1879 - June 17, 1885 | Baron Edwin von Manteuffel (born 1809 - died 1885) |
| 17 June 1885 - 5 October 1885 | an acting official |
| October 5, 1885–1894 | Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingfürst (born 1819 - died 1901) |
| October 1894 - October 31, 1907 | Fürst (Prince) Hermann zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg und Graf von Gleichen (born 1832 - died 1913) |
| November 1, 1907–1914 | Count Karl Leo Julius von Wedel (born 1842 - died 1919) |
| May 1, 1914–1918 | Nikolaus Michael Louis Hans von Dallwitz (born 1855 - died 1919) |
| October 14 - November 21, 1918 | Rudolf Schwander (born 1868 - died 1950) |
Reichsstatthalter 1933 - 1945 [edit]
In the Third Reich, the Nazis created the office of Reichsstatthalter to gain direct control over the federal states (i.e., the states other than Prussia) after winning the general elections of 1933. Their independent state governments and parliaments were successively abolished with the Nazi party taking direct control in the process of Gleichschaltung (coordination).
Four months after being elected, the Nazi government issued the Second Law for Synchronization of the States with the Reich (Zweites Gesetz zur Gleichschaltung der Länder mit dem Reich) on April 7, 1933. The new 'imperial deputies' were given the task of overseeing the fulfillment of Chancellor Adolf Hitler's political guidelines in the states. The deputies' main authorities lay in:
- appointing and dismissing the state prime minister
- dissolving the state parliament and calling new elections
- issuing and announcing state laws
- appointing and dismissing important state agents and judges
- granting amnesty.
The Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich (Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches) passed on January 30, 1934; formally de-federalized the Reich for the first time in its history, and made the deputies responsible to the Reich Interior Minister.
The Imperial Deputies Law of January 30, 1935 named the deputies the constant representatives of the Reich government, appointed to watch over the execution of the political guidelines issued by the Führer and chancellor (Hitler). They received the authority to "inform" the state authorities about the guidelines and the measures to fulfill them. The Reichsstatthalter were now also empowered to take over all functions of state government, and also appointed the mayors of all towns and cities with populations fewer than 100,000.
In Prussia, the largest of the German states, where the government had been overthrown as early as 1932 in the Preußenschlag by the Reich government, Adolf Hitler took direct control. However, he passed his authority to Hermann Göring, who had been installed as Prussian prime minister without an election. The Prussian provinces were administered by an Oberpräsident, who could be, but was not invariably, the Gauleiter.
After the Anschluss (annexation to the German Third Reich), Austria's last pre-war Kanzler became also its first Reichsstatthalter: 15 March 1938 - 30 April 1939 Arthur Seyss-Inquart (born 1892 - died 1946; NSDAP; also Führer der Österreichischen Landesregierung), be it most of his term besides an Reichskommissar für die Wiedervereiningung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich 'Reich Commissioner for Reunification of Austria with the German Reich' (23 April 1938 - 31 March 1940 Josef Bürckel, born 1895 - died 1944, NSDAP); next each constitutive Land (some differences in borders- thus Burgenland was partitioned away) got its own Reichsstatthalter, generally the last Premier.
| Statthalter district | Seat | Incumbent |
|---|---|---|
| Baden (1940-45 Baden-Alsace, Baden-Elsaß) |
Karlsruhe | Robert Heinrich Wagner |
| Bavaria (Bayern) | Munich | Franz Ritter von Epp |
| Braunschweig/Anhalt | Dessau | 1933–1935 Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper 1935–1937 Fritz Sauckel 1937–1945 Rudolf Jordan |
| Hamburg | Hamburg | Karl Kaufmann |
| Hesse (Hessen) | Darmstadt | Jakob Sprenger |
| Lippe/Schaumburg-Lippe | Detmold | Alfred Meyer |
| Mecklenburg-Schwerin/Lübeck/Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1934-37 Mecklenburg/Lübeck) (1937-45 Mecklenburg) |
Schwerin | Friedrich Hildebrandt |
| Oldenburg/Bremen | Oldenburg | 1933-42 Carl Röver 1942-45 Paul Wegener |
| Prussia (Preußen) | Berlin | 1933-35 Adolf Hitler 1935-45 Hermann Göring (acting) |
| Saxony (Sachsen) | Dresden | Martin Mutschmann |
| Thuringia (Thüringen) | Weimar | Fritz Sauckel |
| Württemberg | Stuttgart | Wilhelm Murr |
| Statthalter district | Seat | Incumbent |
|---|---|---|
| Danzig-West Prussia (Danzig-Westpreußen) | Danzig | 1939-45 Albert Forster |
| Carinthia (Kärnten) | Klagenfurt | 1 April 1940 - 27 November 1941 Wladimir von Pawlowski 1941-45 Friedrich Rainer (from April 1941, Head of the Civil Government of Lower Carinthia and Upper Carniola; from 10 September 1943, also Special Commissioner for the Adriatisches Küstenland, i.e. the North Adriatic Littoral |
| Lower Danube (Niederdonau) | Vienna | 1 April 1940 - 8 May 1945 Hugo Jury |
| Upper Danube (Oberdonau), i.e. Ober-österreich | Linz | 1 April 1940 - 5 May 1945 August Eigruber |
| Salzburg | Salzburg | 1 April 1940 - 29 November 1941 Friedrich Rainer (cfr. Carinthia) 29 November 1941 - 4 May 1945 Gustav Adolf Scheel |
| Styria (Steiermark) | Graz | 1940-45 Siegfried Uiberreither |
| Sudetenland (in Czechia) | Reichenberg | 1939-45 Konrad Henlein |
| Tyrol-Vorarlberg (Tirol-Vorarlberg) | Innsbruck | 1 April 1940 - 3 May 1945 Franz Hofer (from 10 September 1943, also Special Commissioner for the Alpenvorland 'Alpine Foothills', i.e. Italian South Tyrol- Belluno, Bozen (Bolzano) and Trentino when integrated into Tyrol) |
| Wartheland (in Poland) | Posen | 1939-45 Arthur Greiser |
| Westmark (Rhineland-Palatinate, the Saar, and Lorraine) | Saarbrücken | 1941-44 Josef Bürckel 1944-45 Willi Stöhr |
| Greater Vienna (Groß-Wien) | Vienna | 1 April 1940 - 10 August 1940 Josef Bürckel, the previous Reichskommissar 10 August 1940 - 12 April 1945 Baldur von Schirach |
