Friday 3 February 2017

Der Marsch Zum Führer (1940)

The March to the Führer


Release dates: 1940
Running time: 44 minutes
Country:  National-Socialist Germany
Language:  German

Der Marsch zum Führer (English: The March to the Führer) is a National-Socialist film released in 1940. It depicts the nationwide march of Hitler Youth (HJ) to Nuremberg for the National-Socialist Party Rally. Unlike the earlier Leni Riefenstahl Nuremberg documentaries, it does not focus on the Party congress itself, or on National-Socialist leaders, who are not shown until the very end of the film. Instead, it follows HJ boys from various parts of National-Socialist Germany beginning their journey, camping along the route, being taken in by helpful families on the way and marching through cities in formation, saluting and carrying the swastika banner.

The film tells of these columns as they march through the mountains, forests, fields and towns of Hitler's realm. Their pilgrimage is climaxed by the colorful ceremonies of the Nuremberg Congress as they parade before their Führer and are addressed by National-Socialist youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Rudolf Hess, and Adolf Hitler himself. Behind the splendid pageantry of this film and the remarkable discipline of its participants is revealed, as vividly as in any cinematic record in existence, the skill of the National-Socialist leaders in preparing Germany's youth, both physically and psychologically, to defend the Reich and Europe.


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