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This article is about the German title. For other uses, see Führer (disambiguation).

Führer (German pronunciation: [ˈfyːʁɐ], spelled Fuehrer when the umlaut is not available) is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler. The word Führer in the sense of guide remains common in German. However, because of its strong association with Nazi Germany, it comes with some stigma and negative connotations when used with the meaning of leader. The word Leiter is generally used instead (though see Modern German usage below).


Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People
Führer und Reichskanzler des deutschen Volkes
Standarte Adolf Hitlers.svg
Hitler's Standard
Adolf Hitler cropped restored.jpg
Adolf Hitler, Führer of Germany (1934 to 1945).
Style His Excellency, Mein Führer
Residence Reich Chancellery
Appointer Reichstag, Enabling Act of 1933
Precursor Paul von Hindenburg
(as president)[1][2]
(as chancellor)
Formation 2 August 1934
First holder Adolf Hitler
Final holder Adolf Hitler
Abolished 23 May 1945
Succession Karl Dönitz
(as president)

Joseph Goebbels
(as chancellor)
Salary 48,000 RM

Origin of the title and its use as party leader[edit]

Führer was the unique name granted by Hitler to himself, in his function as Vorsitzender (chairman) of the Nazi Party. It was at the time common to refer to party leaders as Führer, with an addition to indicate the leader of which party was meant. Hitler's adoption of the title was partly inspired by its earlier use by the Austrian Georg von Schönerer, a major exponent of pan-Germanism and German nationalism in Austria, whose followers also commonly referred to him as the Führer without qualification, and who also used the Heil Hitler salute, known as the "German greeting".[3] Hitler's choice for this political epithet was unprecedented in Germany. Like much of the early symbolism of Nazi Germany, it was modeled after Benito Mussolini's Italian Fascism. Mussolini's chosen epithet il Duce or "Dux" in Latin ('the Leader') was widely used, though, unlike Hitler, he never made it his official title. The Italian word Duce (unlike the German word Führer) is no longer used as a generic term for a leader, but almost always refers to Mussolini himself.

Hitler saw himself as the sole source of power in Germany, similar to the Roman emperors and German medieval leaders.[4] After the death of Paul Hindenburg in 1934, the Badonviller Marsch as well as the Personal standard of Adolf Hitler were used to evocate the presence of Hitler as leader and personification of the German state.[5]

As a political office[edit]


One day before the death of Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler and his cabinet decreed a law that merged the office of the president with that of Chancellor.[6] Hitler therefore assumed the President's powers without assuming the office itself – ostensibly out of respect for Hindenburg's achievements as a heroic figure in World War I. Though this law was in breach of the Enabling Act, which specifically precluded any laws concerning the Presidential office, it was approved by a referendum on 19 August.[1][2][7]

Hitler used the title Führer und Reichskanzler ("Leader and Chancellor"), highlighting the positions he already held in party and government, though in popular reception, the element Führer was increasingly understood not just in reference to the Nazi party but also in reference to the German people and the German state. Soldiers had to swear allegiance to Hitler as "Führer des deutschen Reiches und Volkes" (Leader of the German Realm and People). The title was changed on July 28, 1942 to "Führer des Großdeutschen Reiches" ("Leader of the Greater German Realm"). In his political testament, Hitler also referred to himself as Führer der Nation (Leader of the Nation).[8]

Nazi Germany cultivated the Führerprinzip (leader principle),[9] and Hitler was generally known as just der Führer ("the Leader").

Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer[edit]


Military usage[edit]

Further information: Military career of Adolf Hitler


"Germanic" Führer[edit]

Further information: Greater Germanic Reich

An additional title was adopted by Hitler on 23 June 1941, declaring himself the "Germanic Führer" (germanischer Führer) in addition to his duties as Führer of the German state and people.[11] This was done to emphasize Hitler's professed leadership of what the Nazis described as the "Nordic-Germanic master race", which peoples such as the Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, and Dutch, etc. were considered members of in addition to the Germans, and the intent to subsume these countries into Nazi Germany. Waffen-SS formations from these countries had to declare obedience to Hitler by addressing him in this fashion.[12] On 12 December 1941 the Dutch fascist Anton Mussert also addressed him as such when he proclaimed his allegiance to Hitler during a visit to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.[13] He had wanted to address Hitler as Führer aller Germanen ("Führer of all Germanics"), but Hitler personally decreed the former style.[13] Historian Loe de Jong speculates on the difference between the two: Führer aller Germanen implied a position separate from Hitler's role as Führer und Reichskanzler des Grossdeutschen Reiches ("Führer and Reich Chancellor of the Greater German Empire"), while germanischer Führer served more as an attribute of that main function.[13] As late as 1944, however, occasional propaganda publications continued to refer to him by this unofficial title as well.[14]

Hitler's honorary titles[edit]

Nazi propaganda occasionally used a number of honorary titles when referencing Hitler.

  • Supreme Judge of the German People (German: Oberster Richter des Deutschen Volkes) – Announced by Hitler on 30 June 1934 after the "Night of the Long Knives"[15]
  • First Soldier of the German Reich (German: Erster Soldat des Deutschen Reiches) – This title was assumed by Hitler at the start of World War II on 1 September 1939. Addressing the Reichstag in the Kroll Opera House, Hitler appeared in a grey military uniform, declaring that he wanted "to be nothing but the first soldier of the German Reich", and pledging not to take it off until after victory had been achieved.[16]
  • First Worker of the New Germany (German: Erster Arbeiter des neuen Deutschland).[17]
  • Greatest Military Commander of All Time (German: Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten) – A title bestowed on Hitler by General Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel after the successful western campaign against France and the Low Countries in the summer of 1940.[18] Shortened derisively to "Gröfaz."
  • Military Leader of Europe (German: Heerführer Europas) – Bestowed on Hitler after the start of Operation Barbarossa by the Nazi propaganda ministry in order to portray Hitler as the leader of a continental European struggle against Soviet Bolshevism.[19]
  • High Protector of the Holy Mountain (German: Hoher Protektor des heiligen Berges) – After the Axis occupation of Greece in 1941, the monks of the Monastic State of Mount Athos asked Hitler to place the state under his personal protection, seeing him as a natural ally against the Bolsheviks and Jews. Hitler agreed, and the monks henceforth referred to him by this title until the authority of the Greek government was re-established near the end of the war.[20]

Military usage outside of Hitler[edit]



Modern German usage[edit]

In Germany, the isolated word Führer is usually avoided in political contexts, due to its intimate connection with Nazi institutions and with Hitler personally.



See also[edit]

Nazi German terminology derived from Führer



  2. ^ a b Winkler, Heinrich August. "The German Catastrophe 1933-1945". Germany: The Long Road West vol. 2: 1933-1990. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-19-926598-5. Retrieved 28 October 2011. 
  3. ^ Mitchell, Arthur H. (2007). Hitler's Mountain: The Führer, Obersalzberg, and the American Occupation of Berchtesgaden. Macfarland & Company Inc., Publishers, p. 15.
  4. ^ Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches 1933-1939, Rainer F. Schmidt, Klett-Cotta, 2002
  5. ^ Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier Henry Picker, 05.03.2014
  6. ^ Gesetz über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs, 1 August 1934:
  7. ^ Führer - Source
  8. ^ Adolf Hitler - Politisches Testament 1945
  9. ^ Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression Volume I Chapter VII
  10. ^ Joseph W. Bendersky (2007). A Concise History of Nazi Germany: 1919-1945. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 105–6. 
  11. ^ De Jong, Louis (1974) (in Dutch). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de tweede wereldoorlog: Maart '41 - Juli '42, p. 181. M. Nijhoff.
  12. ^ Bramstedt, E. K. (2003). Dictatorship and Political Police: the Technique of Control by Fear, pp. 92-93. Routledge.
  13. ^ a b c De Jong 1974, pp. 199-200.
  14. ^ Adolf Hitler: Führer aller Germanen. Storm, 1944.
  15. ^ Münchener Studien zur Politik, Nr. 9 1969
  16. ^ Toland, John (1977). Adolf Hitler, pp. 569-570. Book Club Associates, Doubleday & Company, Inc.
  17. ^ Kerschbaumer 1988, Faszination Drittes Reich: Kunst und Alltag der Kulturmetropole Salzburg, p. 53, ISBN 3-7013-0732-6
  18. ^ Neumann, Bernhard Josef (2010) Däh, jetz ham mer den Kriech (da, jetzt haben wer den Krieg - 1939-1945), p. 401. Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt.
  19. ^ Erdmann, Karl Dietrich (1978). Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte: Deutschland unter der Herrschaft des Nationalsozialismus, p. 541. Klett.
  20. ^ The Hitler Icon: How Mount Athos Honored the Führer. Retrieved 22 May 2013.

External links[edit]

The dictionary definition of Führer at Wiktionary