History glossary

Führer

the German word for leader, used by the Nazi regime as Hitler's supreme political title.

Category: Political title
Region: Germany
Date range: 1934–1945

What it means

Führer means leader in German. In Nazi Germany it became Hitler's supreme title after he merged the presidency and chancellorship in 1934. The title expressed the regime's claim that authority flowed from Hitler personally rather than from parliament, law, or constitutional limits.

Related terms

Nazism Enabling Act

Stories using this term

Nazi Germany

From Weimar collapse to WWII, Nazi Germany imposed totalitarian rule, expansion, and genocide.

The Rise of Adolf Hitler

From the ashes of World War I to the Night of the Long Knives, this story traces the political rise of Adolf Hitler and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.