Badonviller March

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Parade march of the minstrels, German lock march and Badonviller march (from 0:41), played by the United States Marine Band

The Badonviller March (also Germanized Badenweiler March ; Army March Collection II, 256) is a march composed by Georg Fürst in 1914 , which later became well-known as Adolf Hitler's performance march . Fürst had dedicated it to the successful first major battle of his Royal Bavarian Infantry Body Regiment in World War I near Badonviller (France). The march is still burdened by its use in the Nazi era and is not allowed to be played regularly by German military or police music corps and is therefore only rarely performed.

music

The march begins with the characteristic ink-like entrance. As with Fürst's marches in general, it is dashing and the melody pushes forward. In the trio , the Badonviller March contains a powerful trombone motif .

Origin context

Georg Fürst was chief of the regimental music of the Royal Bavarian Infantry Body Regiment , the Bavarian Guard Regiment and house regiment of the Wittelsbachers , with the rank of senior musician. He composed the march at the beginning of the First World War, when there was great national pride and patriotism in Germany and there was general optimism about the outcome of the war. The title recalls the regiment's first successful battle at Badonviller during the Battle of Lorraine . Hundreds of soldiers were killed on both sides in an assault on the city on August 12, 1914. In addition to the typical entrance motif, the composer is said to have been inspired by the horns of the ambulance vehicles with which the wounded were transported away during the fighting. 12 civilians were shot and others were deported (see the events in and around Badonviller )

Use in National Socialism

The piece was very much appreciated by Adolf Hitler. During the Third Reich , this march was played at its performances. It was therefore regularly heard in the German newsreel . The place name in the original title was replaced by the German name of the Lorraine place, so that the march was called "Badenweiler-Marsch". According to the police ordinance against the abuse of the Badenweiler march of May 17, 1939, the march was "... only allowed to be played in public at events in which the Führer takes part and only in his presence."

Post-war and present

Even after the end of National Socialism, the march was involuntarily associated with Hitler.

In 1951, the Minister of the Interior Heinrich Zinnkann instructed the regional presidents in Hesse in a public letter to use all police means to prevent singing and playing in public, including the Badenweiler march , as “unscrupulous elements publicly use songs and pieces of music from the time of National Socialist tyranny singing and playing and thereby endangering public safety and order insofar as they evoke memories of the National Socialist tyranny or violate the idea of ​​international understanding anchored in the Basic Law and the Hessian constitution and thus politically provoke the constitutional population ”. In addition to the Badenweiler March, other titles were mentioned in the ban : the Horst Wessel song , the Engelland song , bombs on Engelland , we want to defeat France victoriously and the people at the gun .

German military and police music corps are not allowed to play it in regular service and concert operations. This was laid down by the first head of the military music service, Friedrich Deisenroth , when the music corps of the Bundeswehr was set up in 1956 by means of "specialist service instructions" for the Bundeswehr. Exceptions to this rule are so-called “historical concerts”, in which the development of the march in general and the characteristics of typical national marches are to be shown. However, such performances may only take place under the original title “Badonviller March”.

Apart from these restrictions, the performance of the march is not forbidden today, and several court judgments were made on it. Officials keep referring to the need for sensitive handling of this piece. In general, the march is rarely performed due to its history.

Web links

Commons : Badonviller March  - Collection of images and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Stephan Ametsbichler: How much identification must there be? Georg Fürst and his Badonville March . Bayerischer Rundfunk, March 28, 2020; accessed on June 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Camille Maire: Le plus beau jour de toute la guerre. In: la Nouvelle revue Lorraine , Num. 1, 2010.
  3. ^ Police ordinance against the abuse of the Badenweiler March of May 17, 1939. Reichsgesetzblatt . Part I p. 921.
  4. ^ Ban on National Socialist songs and marches of August 24, 1951 . In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1951 no. 36 , p. 518 , item 823 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4,9 MB ]).
  5. ↑ NPD can play Hitler's favorite march . Legal Tribune Online, December 1, 2014; accessed on June 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ Hitler's favorite march is played in a marquee - and causes outrage . merkur.de, June 2, 2020; accessed on June 20, 2020.