- Joachim Albrecht Eggeling
Joachim Albrecht Leo Eggeling (
30 November 1884 –15 April 1945 ) was the NaziGauleiter ofSaxony andAnhalt and the High President ("Oberpräsident") of the Province ofHalle-Merseburg .Eggeling was born in
Blankenburg am Harz ,Province of Saxony . A farmer's son, Eggeling went to the "Bürgerschule" (a kind of vocational school once found in some parts ofGermany ) and the Gymnasium in Blankenburg, and between 1898 and 1904 completed officer training at the cadet schools atOranienstein andGroß-Lichterfelde .In March 1904, Eggeling joined the army as an
infantry lieutenant , and functioned as of August 1914 as a combatant. By 1915 he was promoted tocaptain and led various units.In October 1919, after being discharged from the army, Eggeling completed studies at the age of 35 as an agriculturist and studied at the Agricultural College in Halle. In November 1922, he was administering the rural domain at Frose in Anhalt, and he also joined the
Nazi Party in July 1925.In 1930, Eggeling organized the agrarian policy apparatus in the
Gau of Saxony-Anhalt (not to be confused with the current state ofSaxony-Anhalt ), and in June 1933 he was appointed provincial agricultural leader ("Landesbauernführer") of the provinces of Saxony and Anhalt.Eggeling's skills so impressed his superiors that he was elected to the Reichstag for the NSDAP in the November 1933 elections.
After Gauleiter
Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper 's death on23 October 1935 , Eggeling was charged with the leadership of the Gau's business and owing to this, he was granted leave from his job as provincial agricultural leader in February 1936.In the same year, Eggeling joined the SS and was given the honorary rank of
Brigadeführer .On
20 April 1937 came Eggeling's appointment as Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg, succeedingRudolf Jordan . At the same time, he served as aPrussia n state adviser and an SSGruppenführer .In 1943, Eggeling was promoted to SS
Obergruppenführer , and on18 August 1944 appointed High President of Merseburg.Convinced of the futility of defending the university town of Halle, with its thousands of refugees, from the advancing American troops, Eggeling committed
suicide by shooting himself. Before this, he had tried in vain to getAdolf Hitler to rescind his unconditional order to defend against the enemy.Eggeling died at Moritzburg Castle in Halle.
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