The "Badonviller-Marsch" (
AM II, 256) is a
Bavarian military march by composer
Georg Fürst (1870–1936). After 1934, with its name Germanized to "Badenweiler Marsch" by the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
, it was used as the official march of
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
in his role as ''
Führer
( , spelled ''Fuehrer'' when the umlaut is unavailable) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler officially cal ...
'', to signal his arrival and therefore personal presence at public events.
History

Fürst composed this tune as the Badonviller-Marsch for the
Royal Bavarian Infantry Life Guard Regiment. The title refers to fighting on 12 August 1914 near
Badonviller in
Lorraine
Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
, where the Royal Bavarian Infantry Guard Regiment (''Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment'') achieved a first victory against the French at the beginning of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The composer's lively two-tone entrance motif was by some accounts inspired by the duotonic sirens of field ambulances, with which the wounded were removed. This march is included in the
Heeresmarsch collection as HM II, 256.
After the death of ''
Reichspräsident''
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919� ...
in 1934, the march was used as a personal "Führer-Marsch" for Hitler alongside his possession of a
personalised standard. As mentioned in
Henry Picker's edition of Hitler's so-called "Table Talks", the march's role was to evoke the presence of Hitler as the leader of the Nazi Party and head of the German state. Hitler claimed to be the sole source of power in Germany, similar to a
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
. The march had a similar formal role as the
Pontifical Anthem
The "Pontifical Anthem and March" (; ), also known as the "Papal Anthem", is the Honors music, anthem played to mark the presence of the Pope or one of his representatives, such as a nuncio, and on other solemn occasions. When the Flag of Vatica ...
for the Pope as the embodiment of the
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
. Features from the National Socialist period or newsreels (e.g. ''
Die Deutsche Wochenschau'', etc.) had the march being pasted into the audio track as background music when appearances of Hitler were shown. However, the march was already often in use before the Nazis came to power. The German police order ''Polizeiverordnung gegen den Mißbrauch des Badenweiler Marsches'' of 17 May 1939 ordered that the Badenviller only be played when Hitler was present. The Germanized name ''Badenweiler-Marsch'' was introduced by the National Socialists, Badenweiler being an established, but disused exonym in standard German. It is subtitled as "The Führer's favourite march" in ''
Triumph of the Will
''Triumph of the Will'' () is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his name appears in the opening ...
'' (1935) during the massive street parade through
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
at the end of which the
1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH (), began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially th ...
marches off. Lyrics were subsequently added to the last section of the march by the German poet Oskar Sauer-Homburg after Hitler's rise to power in 1933.
These lyrics were as follows:
''Vaterland, hör' deiner Söhne Schwur: Nimmer zurück! Vorwärts den Blick! Herzen empor!''
''Großer Gott, schirme die Heimatflur, segne das Volk, segne den Mann, den es erkor!''
''Rein und stolz tönet in Süd und Nord''
''deutscher Sang wieder und deutsches Wort''
''Waffengeweiht, friedensbereit, eilet zu Hauf!''
''Flammendes Licht, Wolken durchbricht, Sonne glüht auf''
''Glockenklang kündet des Reiches Ehr',''
''Siegfrieds Geschlecht, rang um sein Recht, machte sich frei!''
''Hakenkreuz leuchtet vom Fels zum Meer.''
''Brüder, ans Werk, dem Führer treu!''
Fatherland, hear your sons' oath: Never back! Look ahead! Hearts up!
Great God, shield the homeland, bless the people, bless the man they chose!
Pure and proud sounds in south and north
German song again and German word
dedicated to arms, ready for peace, hurry up!
Flaming light breaks through clouds, sun glows
The ringing of the bell announces the honor of the empire,
Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
's race fought for his right, got free!
HookedCross shines from the rock to the sea.
Brethren, to work, faithful to the Leader!
The march is often reported as Hitler's favourite. However, Hitler is quoted in
Traudl Junge's autobiography, ''
Until the Final Hour'' (2002), as denying that it was his favourite march, and was merely misconstrued as such because of a favourable remark he had made about it.
In 1956, the first director of the ''
Bundeswehr
The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
'' ''
Militärmusikdienst'', Friedrich Deisenroth, provided a „Fachdienstliche Anweisung“ (specific service directive) for the West German Bundeswehr bands, to avoid playing the march except in concert settings with distinctive, educational reference to the historical background. The official title is still Badonviller-Marsch, using the French form of the name. Its connection with the Third Reich damaged the reputation of
Georg Fürst as a composer in post-war Germany. A revival of his other compositions took place in the 1990s, however. Orchestras of the Communist
National People's Army
The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...
started to adapt a broader range of traditional marches as early as in the 1960s, but Badonviller was left out, as were similarly the
Fridericus-Rex-Grenadiermarsch and
Preußens Gloria.
[Ulbrichts Soldaten: Die Nationale Volksarmee 1956 bis 1971, Rüdiger WenzkeCh. Links Verlag, 16.01.2013]
See also
*
Königgrätzer Marsch
*
Yorckscher Marsch
"Yorckscher Marsch" was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1808 or 1809 as a march for the Bohemian militia. It was the first of three military marches written by Beethoven.
History
From the name of the Prussian Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg , G ...
*
Der Hohenfriedberger
*
Alte Kameraden
*
Pariser Einzugsmarsch
*
Preußens Gloria
*
Radetzky March
References
External links
MP3 Download of the Badenweiler March
{{Authority control
German military marches
Nazi songs
Year of song missing
1914 songs