Administrative divisions of Germany (TNO:ANM)

The German Reich is a unitary state which consists of 41 Reichsgaue, of which 3 are autonomous.

Germany was initially conceived as a federal state in 1871, first as a federal monarchy with the German Empire and then as a federal republic in the Weimar Republic. In 1933, the Gleichschaltung (lit. 'coordination') during the Nazi era de-facto abolished the states of Germany and established a unitary state, with the Nazi Party's Gaue (regions) being used for administrative purposes. Despite the Nazi regime falling in 1977, it was opted to keep the numerous Gaue and a unitary system in place of the former federal system.

List of Gaue

English name	German name	Capital	Established	Notes
Alsace	Elsaß	Metz	1982	Separated from Gau Baden in 1982
Baden	Baden	Karlsruhe	1934	Formed from the state of Baden; from 1940-1982 included the region of Alsace and named Baden-Elsass
Bayreuth	Bayreuth	Bayreuth	1934	Originally named Bayerische Ostmark until June 1942
Berlin	Berlin	Berlin	1934	From 1945 - 1976 named "Germania"
Bohemia	Böhmen	Prague	1964	Initially part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Carinthia	Kärnten	Klagenfurt	1938	Formed from the Austrian states of Carinthia and the region of Eastern Tyrol
Cologne-Aachen	Köln-Aachen	Cologne	1934	Formed from the north-central part of the Prussian province of the Rhine
Danzig-West Prussia	Danzig–Westpreußen	Danzig	1939	Formed out of the Free City of Danzig, the Pomeranian Voivoideship and the territory of the Governorate of West Prussia within East Prussia
East Prussia	Ostpreußen	Königsberg	1934	Formed from the Prussian province of East Prussia, also including territories annexed from Poland from 1939
Franconia	Franken	Nuremburg	1982	Formed out of a merger of Gau Franconia and Gau Main-Franconia
Hamburg	Hamburg	Hamburg	1934	Formed out of the territory of the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Hesse	Hessen	Frankfurt am Main	1982	Formed out of a merger of Gau Electoral Hesse and Gau Hesse-Nassau
Hanover-Brunswick	Hannover-Braunschweig	Hanover	1982	Formed out of a merger of Gau Eastern Hanover and Gau Southern Hanover-Brunswick
Lorraine	Lothringen	Metz	1982	Separated from Gau Westmark in 1982
Lower Danube	Niederdonau	Krems an der Donau	1938	Formed from Lower Austria and northern Burgenland
Lower Silesia	Niederschlesien	Breslau	1941	Formed out of the territory of the Prussian province of Lower Silesia
March of Brandenburg	Mark Brandenburg	Frankfurt an der Oder	1934	Formed from the Prussian province of Brandenburg
Mecklenburg	Mecklenburg	Schwerin	1934	Formed out of the states of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Moravia	Mähren	Brünn	1964	Initially part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Moselland	Moselland	Koblenz	1934	Formed from the southern half of the Prussian province of the Rhine and from 1940 the country of Luxemburg
Munich-Upper Bavaria	München-Oberbayern	Munich	1934	Formed from the southeastern part of Bavaria
Pomerania	Pommern	Stettin	1934	Formed from the Prussian province of Pomerania
Ruhr	Ruhrgau	Düsseldorf	1982	Formed from a merger of Gau Essen and Gau Düsseldorf
Saar-Palatinate	Saarpfalz	Saarbrücken	1934	From 1940-1982 named Westmark and included the region of Lorraine
Salzburg	Salzburg	Salzburg	1938	Formed from the Austrian state of Salzburg
Saxony	Sachsen	Dresden	1934	Formed out of the territory of Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt	Sachsen-Anhalt	Magdeburg	1982	Formed out of a merger of Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt and Gau Halle-Merseburg
Styria	Steiermark	Graz	1938	Formed from the Austrian state of Styria and the southern part of Burgenland
Sudetenland	Sudetenland	Reichenberg	1938	Formed from the predominantly German speaking area of Czechoslovakia that was annexed to Germany after the Munich Agreement
Thuringia	Thüringen	Weimar	1934	Formed from the state of Thuringia and exclaves of the Prussian province of Saxony
Tyrol-Vorarlberg	Tirol-Vorarlberg	Innsbruck	1938	Formed out of the Austrian states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg
Upper Danube	Oberdonau	Linz	1938	Formed from the Austrian state of Upper Austria, also including a part of Styria
Upper Silesia	Oberschlesien	Kattowitz	1941	Formed from the Prussian province of Upper Silesia
Vienna	Wien	Vienna	1938	Formed from the Austrian state of Vienna along with surrounding territories of Oberdonau
Wartheland	Wartheland	Posen	1939	Formed out of numerous Polish voivodeships in the region
Weser-Ems	Weser-Ems	Oldenburg	1934	Formed from the Free State of Oldenburg (excluding exclaves), Bremen and the western part of the Prussian province of Hanover
Westphalia	Westfalen	Dortmund	1982	Formed from a merger of Gau Westphalia-North and Gau Westphalia-South
Württemberg-Hohenzollern	Württemberg-Hohenzollern	Stuttgart	1934	Formed out of the state of Württemberg and the Prussian province of Hohenzollern