!!!Gau Gau, part of a prince´s territory in the Middle Ages, often in line with the natural features of the landscape (still preserved in the province of Salzburg: Flachgau, Pongau, Pinzgau etc.); during the Nazi era used to designate a territorial unit. From 1926 the illegal NSDAP considered the whole Austrian territory as one gau; in 1936 it was divided up and 1938 every province (except Vorarlberg and Burgenland) was made a gau, governed by a gauleiter. From 1940 these units were regarded as "Reichsgaue", directly subordinate to the administration of the German Reich as defined by the National Socialist law (Ostmarkgesetz); accordingly, the gauleiter became "Reichsstatthalter". %%language [Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Gau|class='wikipage austrian'] %% [{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}] [{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]