Jakob Sprenger

For the 15th-century German priest associated with the Malleus Maleficarum, see James Sprenger.

Jakob Sprenger
Gauleiter of Hesse-Nassau-South
In office 1927–1933
Preceded by	Walther Schultze
Succeeded by	None
Gauleiter of Hesse-Nassau
In office 1933–1945
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	None
Minister-President of the People's State of Hesse
In office 1935–1945
Preceded by	Philipp Wilhelm Jung
Succeeded by	Ludwig Bergsträsser
Reichsstatthalter of the People's State of Hesse
In office 1933–1945
Preceded by	Philipp Wilhelm Jung
Succeeded by	None
Oberpräsident of the Province of Nassau
In office 1944–1945
Preceded by	Province created
Succeeded by	None
Personal details
Born	27 July 1884 Oberhausen, Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany
Died	7 May 1945 (aged 60) Kössen, German Reich
Political party	National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)

Jakob Sprenger (24 July 1884 – 7 May 1945) was a Nazi politician.

Sprenger was born in Oberhausen near Bad Bergzabern in the Palatinate. In 1922, when employed as a postal inspector, Sprenger became a member of the Nazi Party. He was anti-Semitic, and rose quickly through the ranks, first to Gauleiter of Hesse-Nassau-South in 1927, and by September 1930 was an elected member of the Reichstag.

On 5 May 1933 Sprenger was appointed Reichsstatthalter of Hesse and leader (Gauleiter) of the new Gau formed from the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, which included the federated state of Hesse-Darmstadt. In the process of the Gleichschaltung, in particular due to the 'Reichsstatthaltergesetz' of 30 January 1935, he was able to take over leadership of the provincial government from Philipp Wilhelm Jung. Besides Martin Mutschmann of Saxony, he was the only governor charged with such a double function.

On 1 September 1939, SA-Obergruppenführer Sprenger became Reich Commissar of Defense District XII, and as of 1 December 1943 also in the Gau of Hesse-Nassau. Later Sprenger was appointed High President (Oberpräsident) of the Prussian province of Nassau in 1944, after Prince Philip of Hesse-Kassel had been removed. On the night of 25 to 26 March 1945, Sprenger fled from the advancing U.S. Army from Frankfurt to Kössen, Austria, where the Russians and US Army were subsequently in a pincer to cover the whole country. Trapped, he and his wife committed suicide on 7 May 1945.

See also

• List of Gauleiters

External links

• Jakob Sprenger in the German National Library catalogue
• Page on Gau leadership at the Wayback Machine (archived October 29, 2009)
• Newspaper clippings about Jakob Sprenger in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW