Der Führer

Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People Führer und Reichskanzler des deutschen Volkes
Adolf Hitler's Standard
Style	His Excellency, Mein Führer
Residence	Reich Chancellery
Appointer	Reichstag, Enabling Act of 1933
Precursor	Paul von Hindenburg (as President) Himself (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

Führer (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈfyːʁɐ], spelled Fuehrer when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title it is most associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who was the only person to hold the position of Führer. The word Führer in the sense of "guide" remains common in German, and it is used in numerous compound words. However, because of its strong association with Hitler, the isolated word may come with some stigma and negative connotations when used with the meaning of "leader", especially in political contexts. The word Führer has cognates in the Scandinavian languages, spelled in Danish and Norwegian and in Swedish, which have the same meaning and use as the German word, but without necessarily having political connotations.

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". 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 ("the Leader"), from the Latin Dux, 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.