by Bernd R

After the occupation on 10 May 1940 one of the very first plans was to have Luxembourg as part of and subordinated to Militärbefehlshaber Belgien, which was formed on 20 May. The grand duchy of Luxembourg for a short intermediate time indeed was subordinated to the military commander at Brussels, General von Falkenhausen, but still in July 1940 a civil administration was installed, headed by Gauleiter Simon. Gustav Simon, NSDAP Gauleiter of the Gau Koblenz-Trier was beginning to overtake power on 25 July 1940, still under command of the Militärbefehlshaber Belgien-Nordfrankreich these first days. He was appointed to Chef der Zivilverwaltung (CdZ) by a Führererlass from 2 August 1940 formally. Thereby the German decision, mainly those of Hitler in the end, was expressed, to look forward to an integration of Luxembourg into the Reich. At the end of the day it was meant a total incorporation and annexation (called “Germanisierung” or “Eindeutschung” in terms of that times).
The organisation and responsibility for all military matters went over to Wehrkreis XII, Wiesbaden later the year in october. The highest military authority since then was Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres (BdE).

Commander (CdZ)

Gauleiter Gustav Simon (2 Aug 1940 – 10 Sep 1944) (1)

HQ

Stadt Luxemburg

Territory

Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg

Organisation

Stadt Luxemburg
Distrikte :
Diekirch
Grevenmacher
Kreis Luxemburg

since December 1940 :
Stadt Luxemburg
Landkreise :
Diekirch
Esch (= Esch-sur-Alzette)
Grevenmacher

Footnotes

1. The day before the City of Luxembourg was liberated by US troops – 10 September 1944 – Gustav Simon fled to Germany and went underground.