Terboven in February 1942, during the Akershus Government Act ceremony.
Reichskommissar for the Occupied Norwegian Territories
In office 24 April 1940 – 7 May 1945
Appointed by
Adolf Hitler
Preceded by
Position created
Succeeded by
Franz Böhme (acting)
Gauleiter of Gau Essen
In office 1 August 1930 – 8 May 1945
Appointed by
Adolf Hitler
Preceded by
Position created
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Oberpräsident of Rhine Province
In office 5 February 1935 – 8 May 1945
Preceded by
Hermann Freiherr von Lünick
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Personal details
Born
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven
(1898-05-23)23 May 1898 Essen, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died
8 May 1945(1945-05-08) (aged 46) Asker, Akershus, Norway
Political party
Nazi Party (NSDAP)
Profession
Bank clerk
Military service
Allegiance
German Empire
Branch/service
Imperial German Army
Years of service
1915–1918
Rank
Leutnant
Unit
Feldartillerie Regiment 9 Luftstreitkräfte
Battles/wars
World War I
Awards
Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving Gauleiter of Gau Essen and the Reichskommissar for Norway during the German occupation.
Terboven was born in Essen, Germany, and attended Volksschule and Realschule before he volunteered for military service during the First World War. After the war, he studied law and political science at the University of Munich and the University of Freiburg, where he first got involved in politics. Terboven joined the Nazi Party in 1923, participated in the Beer Hall Putsch and eventually rose through the ranks to become the Gauleiter of Essen and the editor of various Nazi newspapers. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Terboven was promoted to SA-Gruppenführer and was made a member of the Prussian State Council.
In 1940, he was appointed Reichskommissar for Norway, a position that granted him significant power and control. Terboven established multiple concentration camps in Norway, ruthlessly persecuted the Jewish population and focused on crushing the Norwegian resistance movement. His actions led to numerous atrocities, such as the Beisfjord massacre in which hundreds of Yugoslavian political prisoners and prisoners-of-war were murdered.
As the tide of the war turned against Germany, Terboven implemented a scorched earth policy in northern Norway that resulted in the forced evacuation of 50,000 Norwegians and widespread destruction. He hoped to turn Norway into a fortress for the Nazi regime's last stand. However, after Adolf Hitler's suicide, his successor, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, dismissed Terboven from his post as Reichskommissar on 7 May 1945.
On 8 May 1945, the day of Germany's surrender, Terboven committed suicide by detonating 50 kg of dynamite in a bunker on the Skaugum compound in Norway. His family survived him in West Germany, and his wife, Ilse (Stahl) Terboven died in 1972.
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving Gauleiter of Gau Essen and...
executive power was retained by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen, headed by JosefTerboven. Vidkun Quisling, Fører of the Nasjonal Samling party, first tried to...
Occupied Norwegian Territories"). It was governed by Reichskommissar JosefTerboven until his deposition on 7 May 1945. The German military forces in Norway...
state administration jointly with the German civilian administrator, JosefTerboven. His pro-Nazi puppet government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated...
Norway by Nazi Germany in World War II. Some, including Reichskommissar JosefTerboven, thought that these fortifications would serve effectively as a last...
Commissioner for Military District VI during the absence in Norway of JosefTerboven. On 17 July 1941 he became Staatssekretär (State Secretary) and Deputy...
implication the lack of legitimacy of Vidkun Quisling's pro-Nazi regime and JosefTerboven's military administration The initial defence in Southern Norway, which...
and Hans Krebs shot themselves in the head with their pistols, and JosefTerboven, the Reichskommissar for German-occupied Norway, blew himself up in...
permanent until the end of German occupation. The SS had suggested either JosefTerboven or Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the Reich Commissioner of the civilian administration...
Piarres Lafitte. On 7 May 1945, the day of occupied Norway's liberation, JosefTerboven, former Reichskommissar of Norway, put the Walloon Rexist Léon Degrelle...
of the Nazi puppet government in Norway, and after Reichskommissar JosefTerboven the highest official in occupied Norway, reporting directly to Adolf...
Gestapo from its headquarters in Victoria Terrasse, Oslo. Along with JosefTerboven, Fehmer was considered one of the most despised members of the German...
Norway, Rediess was transferred there to work with Reichskommissar JosefTerboven. In March 1941, citing reports of large numbers of Norwegian women being...
government, refusing to assume the ministry allotted to him. Reichskommissar JosefTerboven, the leading civilian German leader in occupied Norway, on 25 September...
Anton Diffring as Major Frick Ralph Michael as Nilssen Eric Porter as JosefTerboven Wolf Frees as Sturmbannführer Knippelberg Karel Stepanek as Professor...
Reichskommissar JosefTerboven later would make the estate his official residence in June 1940.[citation needed] Shortly after Hitler's death, Terboven was dismissed...
(JosefTerboven) Reichskommissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories (Arthur Seyss-Inquart) Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France (Josef...
Left to right: Vidkun Quisling seated next to Heinrich Himmler, JosefTerboven and Nikolaus von Falkenhorst in front of officers of the Waffen-SS, German...
member #225,639. Kempka served as chauffeur for JosefTerboven until 29 February 1932, when, based on Terboven's recommendation, he was tasked as a reserve...
with all authority held by German Reich Commissioner (Reichskommissar) JosefTerboven, who exercised this through the Reichskommissariat Norwegen. The Norwegian...
(in German). Bayerische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 20 April 2016. "JosefTerboven (1898-1945)". historisches-centrum.de (in German). Historisches Centrum...
Essen was held by JosefTerboven throughout the history of the Gau. After the German conquest of Norway in 1940 Hitler promoted Terboven Reichskommissar...
power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, JosefTerboven. Quisling, as minister president, later formed a collaborationist government...
Otto Telschow† Wrist slitting Lüneburg May 31, 1945 69 years, 93 days JosefTerboven Dynamite Asker, Norway May 8, 1945 46 years, 350 days Heinz Thilo† Hohenelbe...
20 September 1940, when Reichskommissar JosefTerboven took over power by forming his own cabinet. Terboven attempted to negotiate an arrangement with...
Global Information
German Empire