Of the 44 former Gauleiter of the NSDAP thirteen committed suicide when Nazi Germany surrendered, eight were executed by the allies after the war, one was executed by the SS and one died in Soviet captivity. By 1954, when Karl Wahl became the first former Gauleiter to publish his memoirs, eight were still missing, three in jail and the remaining ten were free men.[1]
| Gauleiter | Gau(e) | In office | Fate |
| Herbert Albrecht | Gau Mecklenburg | 1930–1931 | Died in June 1945 |
| Karl Benz | Gau Hessen-Darmstadt became a part of Hessen-Nassau 1933}} | 1932–1933 |
| Ernst Wilhelm Bohle | Foreign Organization branch of the Nazi Party}} | 1933–1945 | Imprisoned until 1949, died in 1960 in West Germany |
| Fritz Bracht | Created when Gau Schlesien was split into two separate Gaue}} | 1941–1945 | Committed suicide in May 1945 |
| Josef Bürckel | Gau Rheinpfalz became a part of Pfalz-Saar in 1935}} | 1926–1935 | Died in September 1944[5] |
| Gau Saarland became a part of Pfalz-Saar in 1935}} | 1933–1935 |
| Reichsgau Wien | 1939–1940 |
| Gau Pfalz-Saar was founded in 1935 when Saarland & Rheinpfalz merged. It was renamed Saarpfalz in 1937 and finally Westmark in 1942}} | 1935–1944 |
| Helmuth Brückner | Gau Schlesien was divided into Niederschlesien & Oberschlesien in 1941}} | 1925–1934 | Died in Soviet captivity in 1951 or 1954 |
| Walter von Corswant | Gau Pommern | 1928–1931 | Died in 1942 |
| Léon Degrelle | Reichsgau Wallonien | In exile in Germany}} | Escaped to Spain in 1945 where he died in 1994 |
| Artur Dinter | Gau Thüringen | 1925–1927 | Died in 1948 |
| August Eigruber | Reichsgau Oberdonau | 1939–1945 | Executed in Bavaria in May 1947 |
| Joachim Albrecht Eggeling | Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt | 1935–1937 | Committed suicide in April 1945[6] |
| Gau Halle-Merseburg | 1938–1945 |
| Otto Erbersdobler | Gau Niederbayern became a part of Bayerische Ostmark 1933}} | 1929–1932[7] | Died in 1981 in West Germany |
| Walter Ernst | Gau Halle-Merseburg | 1925–1926 | Killed in action in March 1945 |
| Friedrich Karl Florian | Gau Düsseldorf was founded in 1929 from the Bezirk Bergisches-Land}} | 1929–1945 | Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1975 in West Germany[8] |
| Albert Forster | Gau Danzig-Westpreußen was known as Gau Danzig before 1939}} | 1930–1945 | Executed in Poland in 1952 |
| Peter Gemeinder | Gau Hessen-Darmstadt | 1931 | Died in 1931 |
| Karl Gerland | Kurhessen was known as Gau Hessen-Nassau-Nord before 1934}} | 1944–1945 (acting) | Killed in action in April 1945 |
| Paul Giesler | Gau Westfalen-Süd | 1941–1943 | Committed suicide in May 1945[9] |
| Gau München-Oberbayern was founded in 1933 when the Bezirk Oberbayern & Gross-München merged}} | 1944–1945 |
| Joseph Goebbels | Gau Berlin-Brandenburg was divided into Berlin & Brandenburg 1929}} | 1926–1929 | Committed suicide in Berlin in May 1945[10] |
| Gau Berlin | 1929–1945 |
| Odilo Globocnik | Reichsgau Wien | 1938–1939 | Committed suicide in British captivity in May 1945 |
| Arthur Greiser | Wartheland was also known as Warthegau}} | 1939–1945 | Executed in Poland in 1946 |
| Wilhelm Grimm | Gau Mittelfranken became a part of Franken 1929}} | 1928 |
| Josef Grohé | Gau Köln-Aachen | 1931–1945 | Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1987 in West Germany |
| Anton Haselmayer | Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd became a part of Hessen-Nassau in 1933}} | 1925–1926 |
| Heinz Haake | Gau Rheinland-Süd was divided into Köln-Aachen & Koblenz-Trier in 1931}} | 1925 | Died in British captivity in 1945 |
| Ludolf Haase | Gau Hannover-Süd became a part of Südhannover-Braunschweig 1928}} | 1927–1928 | Died in 1972 in West Germany |
| Karl Hanke | Created when Gau Schlesien was split into two separate Gaue}} | 1941–1945 | Captured and killed by Czech partisans |
| Otto Hellmuth | Unterfranken was known as Gau Mainfranken after 1935}} | 1928–1945 | Imprisoned until 1955, committed suicide in 1968 in West Germany[11] |
| Konrad Henlein | Reichsgau Sudetenland | 1939–1945 | Committed suicide in US captivity in May 1945 |
| Friedrich Hildebrandt | Gau Mecklenburg | 1925–1930{{Clear}}1931–1945 | Executed in Bavaria in November 1948 |
| Paul Hinkler | Gau Halle-Merseburg | 1926–1930 | Committed suicide in April 1945 |
| Franz Hofer | Reichsgau Tirol | 1932–1933 | Escaped captivity in 1948, died in 1975 in West Germany |
| Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg | 1938–1945 |
| Albert Hoffmann | Gau Westfalen-Süd | 1943–1945 | died in Heiligenrode in 1972 |
| Paul Hofmann | Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt | 1933 |
| Hans-Albert Hohnfeldt | Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen | 1926–1928 |
| Emil Holz | Gau Brandenburg{{efn|Gau Brandenburg was made a part of Kurmark 1933}} | 1929–1930 |
| Karl Holz | Gau Franken was founded in 1929 when Mittelfranken merged with the Bezirk Nürnberg-Fürth}} | 1942–1945 | Died in April 1945 under unclear circumstances[12] |
| Rudolf Jordan | Gau Halle-Merseburg | 1930–1937 | Imprisoned in the Soviet Union until 1955, died in West Germany in 1988[13] |
| Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt | 1938–1945 |
| Hugo Jury | Reichsgau Niederdonau | 1939–1945 | Committed suicide in May 1945 |
| Wilhelm Karpenstein | Gau Pommern | 1931–1934 | Died in 1968 in West Germany |
| Karl Kaufmann | Gau Rheinland-Nord became a part of Ruhr in 1926}} | 1925–1926 | Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1969 in West Germany[14] |
| Gau Ruhr was divided into Westfalen-Nord & Westfalen-Süd in 1932}} | 1926–1929 |
| Gau Hamburg | 1929–1945 |
| Josef Klant | Gau Hamburg | 1925–1926 | Died in 1927 |
| Hubert Klausner | Reichsgau Kärnten | 1939–1940 | Died in 1939 |
| Erich Koch | Gau Ostpreußen | 1928–1945 | Died in prison in Poland in 1986 |
| Albert Krebs | Gau Hamburg | 1927–1928 | Died in 1974 in West Germany |
| Wilhelm Kube | Gau Ostmark was made a part of Gau Kurmark in 1933}} | 1928–1933 | Assassinated by Soviet partisans in September 1943 |
| Kurmark was founded in 1933 when Ostmark merged with Brandenburg; it was renamed Gau Mark Brandenburg in 1940}} | 1933–1936 |
| Franz Kutschera | Reichsgau Kärnten | 1940–1941 | Executed by Polish resistance fighters in February 1944 |
| Hartmann Lauterbacher | Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig was founded in 1928 when Hannover-Nord & Hannover-Süd merged}} | 1940–1945 | Escaped captivity in 1948, died in 1988 in West Germany |
| Robert Ley | Gau Rheinland–Süd | 1925–1931 | Indicted at the Nuremberg trials, but committed suicide in his cell in October 1945 before the trials began |
| Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper | Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt | 1927–1933{{Clear}}1934–1935 | Died in 1935 |
| Hinrich Lohse | Gau Hamburg | 1928–1929 | Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1964 in West Germany[15] |
| Gau Schleswig-Holstein | 1925–1945 |
| Walter Maaß | Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen | 1928–1930 |
| Franz Maierhofer | Gau Oberpfalz became a part of Bayerische Ostmark in 1933}} | 1929–1932 | Killed in action in August 1943 |
| Friedrich Mengeringhausen | Gau Hessen-Darmstadt | 1927–1931 |
| Alfred Meyer | Gau Westfalen-Nord | 1932–1945 | Committed suicide in April 1945 |
| Eugen Munder | Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern | 1925–1928 | Died in 1952 |
| Wilhelm Murr | Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern | 1928–1945 | Committed suicide in French captivity in May 1945 |
| Martin Mutschmann | Gau Sachsen | 1925–1945 | Executed in the Soviet Union in February 1947 |
| Hans Nieland | NSDAP/AO | 1930–1933 | Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1976 in West Germany |
| Franz Pfeffer von Salomon | Gau Westfalen became a part of Ruhr in 1926}} | 1925–1926 | Died in 1968 in West Germany |
| Friedrich Rainer | Reichsgau Salzburg | 1939–1941 | Executed in Yugoslavia in July 1947 |
| Reichsgau Kärnten | 1942–1944 |
| Fritz Reinhardt | Gau Niederbayern | 1928–1930 | Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1969 in West Germany |
| Carl Röver | Gau Weser-Ems | 1929–1942 | Died in 1942 |
| Ludwig Ruckdeschel | Gau Bayerische Ostmark was founded in 1933 when Gau Oberfranken, Niederbayern and Oberpfalz merged. It was renamed Gau Bayreuth after its capital in 1943}} | 1945 | Imprisoned until 1952, died in 1986 in West Germany[16] |
| Bernhard Rust | Gau Hannover-Nord became a part of Südhannover-Braunschweig 1928}} | 1925–1928 | Committed suicide in May 1945 |
| Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig | 1928–1940 |
| Fritz Sauckel | Gau Thüringen | 1927–1945 | Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, executed in October 1946 |
| Gustav Adolf Scheel | Reichsgau Salzburg | 1941–1945 | Imprisoned intermittently until 1953, died in 1979 in West Germany |
| Hans Schemm | Gau Oberfranken became a part of Bayerische Ostmark in 1933}} | 1928–1933 | Died of injuries sustained in an aircraft crash in March 1935[17] |
| Gau Bayerische Ostmark | 1933–1935 |
| Bruno Gustav Scherwitz | Gau Ostpreußen | 1925–1927 |
| Baldur von Schirach | Reichsgau Wien | 1940–1945 | Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, imprisoned for 20 years, died 1974 in West Germany |
| Ernst Schlange | Gau Berlin-Brandenburg | 1925–1926 | Died in Soviet captivity in 1947 |
| Gau Brandenburg | 1930–1933 |
| Fritz Schlessmann | Gau Essen | 1940–1945 (acting) | Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1964 in West Germany |
| Gustav Hermann Schmischke | Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt | 1925–1928 |
| Walther Schultze | Gau Kurhessen | 1926–1927 | Died in 1979 in West Germany |
| Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd | 1926–1927 |
| Franz Schwede | Gau Pommern | 1935–1945 | Imprisoned until 1956, died in 1960 in West Germany |
| Gustav Simon | Moselland was named Gau Koblenz-Trier until 1942}} | 1931–1945 | Captured by the British Army, found hanged in his cell in December 1945 |
| Jakob Sprenger | Gau Hessen-Nassau-Süd | 1927–1933 | Committed suicide in May 1945 |
| Gau Hessen-Nassau was founded 1933 when Hessen-Darmstadt merged with Hessen-Nassau-Süd}} | 1933–1945 |
| Willi Stöhr | Gau Pfalz–Saar | 1944–1945 | Escaped to Canada[18] |
| Gregor Strasser | Gau Niederbayern-Oberpfalz was divided into Niederbayern & Oberpfalz in 1929}} | 1925–1929 | Executed during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 |
| Julius Streicher | Gau Franken | 1929–1940 | Found guilty in the Nuremberg trials, executed in October 1946[19] |
| Emil Stürtz | Gau Kurmark | 1939–1945 | Missing since April 1945, declared dead |
| Otto Telschow | Gau Lüneburg-Stade | 1925–1928 | Captured by the British Army, committed suicide in May 1945 |
| Gau Osthannover | 1925–1945 |
| Josef Terboven | Gau Essen | 1928–1945 | Committed suicide in Norway in May 1945[20] |
| Theodor Vahlen | Gau Pommern | 1925–1927 | Died in 1945 in Czechoslovakia |
| Siegfried Uiberreither | Reichsgau Steiermark | 1939–1945 | Escaped from captivity in 1948, possibly died in 1984 in West Germany |
| Fritz Wächtler | Gau Bayerische Ostmark | 1935–1945 | Executed by the SS in April 1945[21] |
| Adolf Wagner | Gau München-Oberbayern | 1933–1944 | Died in April 1944 |
| Josef Wagner | Gau Ruhr | 1929–1931 | Killed in May 1945 either by the SS or Soviet troops |
| Gau Schlesien was divided into Niederschlesien & Oberschlesien in 1941}} | 1934–1940 |
| Gau Westfalen-Süd | 1932–1941 |
| Robert Heinrich Wagner | Included the French Alsace region from 1940 onwards and was renamed Gau Baden-Alsace}} | 1925–1945 | Executed in France in October 1946[22] |
| Karl Wahl | Gau Schwaben | 1928–1945 | Imprisoned until 1948, died in 1981 in West Germany[23] |
| Paul Wegener | Gau Weser-Ems | 1942–1945 | Imprisoned until 1951, died in 1993 in Germany |
| Karl Weinrich | Gau Kurhessen | 1927–1943 | Imprisoned until 1950, died in 1973 in West Germany |
| Jef van de Wiele | Reichsgau Flandern | In exile in Germany}} | Imprisoned for 17 years, died in 1979 in Belgium |
| Hans Zimmermann | Gau Franken | 1940–1941 | Died in 1984 in West Germany[24] |
1. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-28958092.html |title=Es ist das deutsche Herz |date=22 December 1954 |website=spiegel.de |publisher=Der Spiegel|access-date= 26 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=It is the German heart }}
2. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de/uebersicht-der-nsdap-gaue-der-gauleiter-und-der-stellvertretenden-gauleiter-zwischen-1933-und-1945/ |title= Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter zwischen 1933 und 1945 |date= |website=zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de |publisher=Zukunft braucht Erinnerung|access-date= 31 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=Overview of Nazi Gaue, the Gauleiter and assistant Gauleiter from 1933 to 1945 }}
3. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/gau_abc.html |title= Die Gaue der NSDAP |date= |website=verwaltungsgeschichte.de |publisher=|access-date= 31 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=The Gaue of the Nazi Party }}
4. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/ns-regime/innenpolitik/gaue/ |title= Die NS-Gaue |date= |website=dhm.de |publisher=Deutsches Historisches Museum|access-date= 29 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=The Nazi Gaue }}
5. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/buerckel-josef |title=Bürckel, Josef|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
6. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.xn--hndelstadt-halle-vnb.de/halle-ns.htm|title= NS-Zeit 1933-45|date= |website=xn--hndelstadt-halle-vnb.de |publisher=|access-date= 29 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=Nazi era 1933-45}}
7. ^Anna Rosmus: Hitlers Nibelungen, Samples Grafenau 2015, pp. 60f
8. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46265080.html |title= ZEITGESCHICHTE / NATIONALSOZIALISTEN |date= 8 May 1967|website=spiegel.de |publisher=Der Spiegel|access-date= 26 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=History/Nazis }}
9. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/giesler-paul|title=Giesler, Paul|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
10. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz21340.html |title= Goebbels, Paul Joseph |date= |website=deutsche-biographie.de |publisher=Bavarian State Library|access-date= 26 March 2016|language=German|trans-title= }}
11. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/hellmuth-otto|title=Hellmuth, Otto|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
12. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/holz-karl|title=Holz, Karl|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
13. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-magdeburg.de/mbl/Biografien/0670.htm |title= Jordan, Rudolf |date= |website=uni-magdeburg.de |publisher=University of Magdeburg|access-date= 29 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
14. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.ndr.de/kultur/geschichte/Die-Legende-vom-guten-Gauleiter,kaufmanninterview101.html |title= Die Legende vom "guten Gauleiter"|date=8 April 2011 |website=ndr.de |publisher=Norddeutscher Rundfunk|access-date= 29 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=The legend of the "good Gauleiter"}}
15. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz54110.html |title= Lohse, Hinrich |date= |website=deutsche-biographie.de |publisher=Bavarian State Library|access-date= 26 March 2016|language=German|trans-title= }}
16. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/ruckdeschel-ludwig |title=Ruckdeschel, Ludwig|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
17. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/schemm-hans |title=Schemm, Hans|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
18. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/stoehr-willi|title=Stöhr, Willi|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
19. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/streicher-julius|title=Streicher, Julius|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
20. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.historisches-centrum.de/index.php?id=287 |title= Josef Terboven (1898-1945) |date= |website=historisches-centrum.de |publisher=Historisches Centrum Hagen|access-date= 26 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
21. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/waechtler-fritz |title=Wächtler, Fritz|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
22. ^{{cite web |url=http://ns-ministerien-bw.de/2014/12/robert-wagner-gauleiter-reichsstatthalter-in-baden-und-chef-der-zivilverwaltung-im-elsass/ |title= ROBERT WAGNER, GAULEITER, REICHSSTATTHALTER IN BADEN UND CHEF DER ZIVILVERWALTUNG IM ELSASS |date=12 December 2014 |website=ns-ministerien-bw.de |publisher=|access-date= 24 March 2016|language=German|trans-title=Robert Wagner, Gauleiter, Reichsstatthalter in Baden and chief of the civil administration of Alsace }}
23. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/wahl-karl|title=Wahl, Karl|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}
24. ^{{cite web |url=http://verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/zimmermann-hans|title=Zimmermann, Hans|date= |website=verwaltungshandbuch.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de |publisher=Bayerische Landesbibliothek|access-date= 20 April 2016|language=German|trans-title=}}