13 Facts About Karl Gerland

Karl Gerland was a Nazi Gauleiter of Gau Kurhessen and Oberprasident of the Prussian Province of Kurhessen.

On 21 April 1945, Gerland was killed in action against the Soviet Red Army at Frankfurt.

Karl Gerland graduated from the gymnasium in Kassel in 1923 and then was employed as a mechanical engineer by the German National Railway.

Karl Gerland pursued additional training in engineering at the University of Hanover until 1928 and then worked in various commercial and technical businesses.

Karl Gerland joined the Nazi Party in December 1929 and became Kreisleiter in Kreis Hofgeismar from September 1930 to January 1932.

Karl Gerland then worked as a department head in the office of Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess in the Party Reichsleitung in Munich from November 1934 to November 1938.

In March 1936, Karl Gerland was elected to the Reichstag from electoral constituency 8,.

Karl Gerland joined the SS on 16 March 1938 with the rank of Hauptsturmfuhrer.

From May to September 1940, Karl Gerland saw military service as an Unteroffizier of Reserves, and was wounded in the battle of France.

In November 1943, Karl Gerland was promoted to SS-Brigadefuhrer and, on 6 November, he was appointed Gauleiter and Reich Defense Commissioner in Gau Kurhessen.

Karl Gerland served as acting Gauleiter from 6 November 1943 until being named permanent on 13 December 1944.

From 1 July 1944 Karl Gerland was Oberprasident of the newly formed Prussian Province of Kurhessen, which formerly had been part of the Province of Hesse-Nassau.

Karl Gerland thus united under his control the highest party and governmental offices in the province.