as one of the first 12 Nazi deputies to the Reichstag in Berlin. He would continue to be elected to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 18, Westphalia-South, in every subsequent election in the Weimar and Nazi regimes. On 1 October 1928, when the large Gau Ruhr was split up, he was appointed Gauleiter of the newly formed Gau of Westphalia, and after this Gau was split in two on 1 January 1931, he remained Gauleiter of Gau Westphalia-South, whose seat was in Bochum. In 1930, he founded a weekly Nazi newspaper, Westfalenwacht (Westphalia Awakes); this was followed in 1931 by a daily paper, Rote Erde (Red Earth). In 1932 he founded the Hochschule für Politik (Academy for Politics) of the NSDAP, becoming its leader. Height of power, 1933 to 1941 After the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933, Wagner became a City Councilor in Bochum on 12 March and was appointed to the Westphalia Landtag, which on 10 April appointed him to the Prussian State Council where he was named First Vice-President until the Council was dissolved in July. He was reappointed on 14 September to the reconstituted Council, now stripped of significant legislative functions and merely an advisory body to Prussian Minister-President Hermann Göring. On 25 September 1933, Wagner joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) with the rank of SA-Gruppenführer and was assigned to the SA Westphalia Group. In October 1933, he was made a member of the Academy for German Law. In 1934 he was made a member of the Prussian Provincial Council for Westphalia. On 12 December 1934, after the removal of Helmuth Brückner, Wagner was also appointed as Gauleiter of Gau Silesia with its capital at Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland). Retaining his Gauleiter position in Westphalia-South, he was one of only a very few Gauleiters to simultaneously head two Gaue. In addition, he succeeded Brückner as Oberpräsident (High President) of the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. He thus united under his control the highest party and governmental offices in the two provinces. After the two provinces were united into the Province of Silesia on 1 April 1938, Wagner became its Oberpräsident until the province was split again on 27 January 1941. From 12 June 1935 he also served as the President of the Prussian Provincial Council for both Silesian provinces and, during their union, for the united Silesia. On 29 October 1936, Wagner was