Hartmann Lauterbacher (24 May 1909 – 12 April 1988) was a senior regional leader (Obergebietsführer) of the Hitler Jugend, as well as Gauleiter of Gau South Hanover–Brunswick (Südhannover-Braunschweig) and an SS-Obergruppenführer. A veterinarian's son, he went to the Reformgymnasium in Kufstein and eventually learnt to be a druggist. NSDAP membership Already by 1923, the then 14-year-old Hartmann Lauterbacher had become a member of the Austria-based NSDAP's youth organization. It is even said that Lauterbacher founded the first ever NSDAP youth local in Austria, in Kufstein. In 1925, when he was 16 years old, Lauterbacher was the leader of the Deutsche Jugend ("German Youth"), which he transferred to the Hitler Youth in 1927. Hitler Youth leader For professional reasons, Lauterbacher had to move to Braunschweig, where he joined the NSDAP in September 1927. Between 1929 and 1930, he attended the Braunschweig Druggists' Academy. From 1929 to 1932 he led the Hitler Youth of the Gau of South Hanover–Brunswick, as of 1930 as his main job. Between 1932 and 1933, Lauterbacher was appointed leader of the Westphalia-Lower Rhine area, and between 1933 and 1934 he was appointed high area leader of the Hitler Youth West. On 22 May 1934, Baldur von Schirach appointed Lauterbacher his deputy and Stabsführer. In 1936, Lauterbacher was elected as a member of the Reichstag. In April 1937 he was made a Ministerial Councilor to Schirach. Second World War While von Schirach was away performing a short stint in the military, Lauterbacher took over the Hitler Youth's commissary leadership. When he likewise found himself having to spend a few weeks at military service, in the shape of an SS formation, he suffered an accident and was wounded badly enough to make deployment anywhere other than on the homefront quite impossible. However, since a Hitler Youth leader could not show any sign of physical flaw or marring, Lauterbacher had to hand his position over to Artur Axmann, who now became Baldur von Schirach's deputy. Helmut Möckel became Stabsführer. Gauleiter of South Hanover–Brunswick On 8 August 1940, Lauterbacher was appointed Deputy Gauleiter of Gau South Hanover–Brunswick, and on 8 December 1940, as Science and Education Minister Bernhard Rust's successor, he was appointed full-fledged Gauleiter. At the same time he received an appointment as Honorary Leader of the Academy for Youth Leadership in Braunschweig In January 1941, Lauterbacher was appointed to the Prussian State Council. He took over as Oberpräsident of