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Badonviller Marsch
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Wikipedia article
The "'Badonviller-Marsch'" (AM II, 256) is a Bavarian military march by composer Georg Frst (18701936). After 1934, with its name Germanized to "'Badenweiler Marsch'" by the Nazis, it was used as the official march of Hitler in his role as 'Fhrer', to signal his arrival and therefore personal presence at public events.
History
, which fought at Badonviller in 1914.
Frst composed this tune as the 'Badonviller-Marsch' for the Royal Bavarian Infantry Guard Regiment. The title refers to fighting on 12 August 1914 near Badonviller in Lorraine , where the Royal Bavarian Infantry Guard Regiment ('Kniglich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment') achieved a first victory against the French at the beginning of the First World War. 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 Paul Hindenburg 1934, the march was used as a personal "Fhrer-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.Hitlers Tischgesprche im Fhrerhauptquartier Henry Picker, 05.03.2014 Hitler claimed to be the sole source of power in Germany, similar to a Holy Roman emperor. The march had a similar formal role as the Pontifical Anthem for the Pope as the embodiment of the Holy See.Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches 1933-1939, Rainer F. Schmidt, Klett-Cotta, 2002 Features from the National Socialist period or newsreels (e.g. "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 Mibrauch des Badenweiler Marsches' of 17 May 1939 ordered that the Badenviller only be played when Hitler was present.'Polizeiverordnung gegen den Mibrauch des Badenweiler Marsches' May 17th 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt I p. 921. The Germanized name 'Badenweiler-Marsch' was introduced by the National Socialists, Badenweiler being an established, but disused exonym in standard German. Musik, Macht, Staat: kulturelle, soziale und politische Wandlungsprozesse in der Moderne, Sabine Mecking, Yvonne Wasserloos, V&R unipress GmbH, 2012 It is subtitled as "The Fhrer's favourite march" in 'Triumph of the Will' during the massive street parade through Nuremberg at the end of which the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler marches off.'Triumph of the Will' (Universum Film AG, 1935), English subtitles. Lyrics were subsequently added to the march by the German poet Oskar Sauer-Homburg after Hitler's rise to power in 1933.
The march is often reported as Hitler's favourite.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080609012236/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761427,00.html Badenweiler March.] 'Time,' 1939-06-05 (viewed 2008-10-18).[https://web.archive.org/web/20101014074830/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777377,00.html Happy Hitler.] 'Time,' 1940-07-15 (viewed 2008-10-26). However, Hitler is quoted in Traudl Junge's autobiography, 'Until the Final Hour', 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 Militrmusikdienst, Friedrich Deisenroth, provided a Fachdienstliche Anweisung (specific service directive) for the German Bundeswehr orchestra, to avoid playing the march except in concerts 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 Frst 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 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 Preuens Gloria. Ulbrichts Soldaten: Die Nationale Volksarmee 1956 bis 1971, Rdiger WenzkeCh. Links Verlag, 16.01.2013
See also
*Kniggrtzer Marsch
*Yorckscher Marsch
*Der Hohenfriedberger
*Alte Kameraden
*Pariser Einzugsmarsch
*Prussia's Glory
*Radetzky March
References
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