Führer

Führer (, FURE-ər; [ˈfyːʁɐ] , 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 Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler officially called himself der Führer und Reichskanzler ('the Leader and Chancellor of the Reich') after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, as well as the subsequent merging of the offices of Reichspräsident and Reichskanzler. Nazi Germany cultivated the Führerprinzip ('leader principle'), and Hitler was generally known as simply der Führer ('the Leader'). In compound words, the use of Führer remains common in German and is used in words such as Reiseführer ('travel guide'), Museumsführer ('museum docent'), Bergführer ('mountain guide'), Führerschein ('driver's licence'), Spielführer ('game captain'), and Oppositionsführer ('leader of the opposition'). However, because of its strong association with Hitler, the isolated word itself usually has negative connotations when used with the meaning of leader, especially in political contexts. The word Führer has cognates in the Scandinavian languages, spelled fører in Danish and Norwegian. In Norwegian, the word has the same meaning as the German word. The Norwegian word for mayor is ordfører, literally meaning word leader. In Swedish Ordförande means 'Chairman' and applies to a wide range of situations, for example in corporate boards or as the head of an official gathering of members. In Swedish and Danish, förare and fører normally means 'driver' (of a vehicle), a meaning Führer can also have in German. However, in the compound word härförare and hærfører, that part does mean 'leader', and is a cognate of the German Heerführer (military leader).