| Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP – “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”) Führer Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – 30 April 30, 1945) salutes the parade of the Sturmabteilung (SA), at the 1929 Reichsparteitag (“Nazi Party Rally”) titled Tag der Sammlung (“Day of Composure”). Hitler and the Nazis rally in front of the Frauenkirche, a Catholic Church built on the site of a destroyed synagogue in 1349. The city of Nuremberg built a memorial to the dead of World War I in 1927. The city did not intend to provide the Nazis with a setting for their annual ceremonies, but, as it turned out, this monument was to be the center of chauvinistic hero worship from this time on. There were to be great fireworks and a nocturnal motorcade through the town. The number of participants increased significantly: there were to be 34 new standards, 60,000 men, and 2,000 Hitlerjugend (“Hitler Youth”). The 1st major event of August 4, 1929, was a memorial celebration for the dead of World War I. The ceremony was on a grander scale than ever before. Formations of SA and Schutzstaffel SS assembled early in the morning in the Luitpold Arena. In front of the newly constructed War Memorial was a stone coffin topped by a helmet, and behind it stood a stone cross. The coffin was covered with hundreds of wreaths. After the bands played the “Niederländisches Dankgebet,” Hitler arrived, accompanied by the SA leaders and the carriers of the standards and Hitler Youth banners. The flags were arranged in front of the War Memorial, where General Franz Ritter von Epp (October 16, 1868 – January 31, 1947) greeted Hitler. Hitler, General von Epp, and Oberster SA-Führer Franz Pfeffer von Salomon (February 19, 1888 – April 12, 1968) then stepped up to the memorial. Von Epp made a short speech commemorating the war dead. Then fanfares and cannon shots gave the signal for the highest leaders of the party, the SA, and the bearers of the flags and standards to advance on the huge field. The crowd cheered as the rows of flags were carried in front of the leaders, while the band played the “Präsentiermarsch,” and 25 new standards and the 11 new storm flags were carried past Hitler. He touched each flag with the “blood flag,” the party banner that had been carried by the SA during the 1923 Munich Putsch, and which was stained with the blood of men wounded in the street fighting. The masses repeated 3 times in chorus “Germany, Awaken,” the campaign slogan of the Nazis in the early years. This “consecration” of the new banners became a permanent ritual in the gigantic rallies of the 1930s. The Storm Troopers stood in military order and, after a trumpet call, were addressed by Hitler. This speech, like all of Hitler’s speeches from now on, was full of the mannerisms and clichés which he had been developing and which were later often secretly ridiculed by the people. He retold the history of the party from the beginning to the present time and made his familiar observations about World War I, its causes, its course, and its end. The Völkischer Beobachter described the military review in greater detail than ever before. To the rhythm of Prussian military marches, the columns of SA men began to march by the leaders. The parade was led by groups representing the eastern provinces of Germany. They were followed by delegates from northern Germany and the middle and southern provinces. Participation in the parade was so great that it took the delegates from southern Germany 1 hour to march by. An unusually large contingent of Hitler Youths also marched. The delegates from the Palatinate, in their white shirts, drew particularly loud applause from the watching crowd, since the French had forbidden them to wear the brown Nazi garb. The groups from Saxony and Bavaria were estimated at 10,000 each. The foreign representation was greater than ever before. Delegates from North and South America, the Sudetenland, South Africa, Sweden, and Austria attended the parade. The SS made up the final columns. It took the 60,000 participants in the parade 4 hours to march by the reviewing stands. Commentaries upon the success of the 1929 Nuremberg Rally differ. Ernst Hanfstaengl (February 2, 1887 – November 6, 1975), a German American businessman and close friend of Adolf Hitler, relates the following impression: “I remember being quite impressed by the marching and the bands at the Rally, but of course it had not in any way acquired the mammoth Hollywood proportions that were soon to make it such an effective propaganda weapon.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii0803.jpg |
| Image Size | 678.38 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1849 x 2898 |
| Photographer | Heinrich Hoffmann |
| Photographer Title | Heinrich Hoffmann Presse |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 4, 2028 |
| Location | |
| City | Nuremberg |
| State or Province | Bavaria |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-242-HAP-1928(46) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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