German translation question?

Question

I was wondering what the LITERAL translation of the word "Fuhrer", with the 2 dots over the "u", is.

I know it's what Hitler was called by Nazi party members.

Did the Nazis coin the phrase, or was it a word in circulation prior to Hitler's rise to power? Is it still in use today?

Answer 1

Yes. Führer is usually used today for a tour guide or city guide in Germany. Germans tend to use other words for people who lead, like Chef, Boss, or put it together with other nouns, like Spielführer, Bergführer, Reiseführer, Anführer etc. Hitler Germany destroyed the normal usage of simple words, like homeland, providence, pride, honor, patriotism etc that noone uses easily in Germany today.
Other than that it just means leader and was used in old texts for someone who leads, not that common but Germans used it sometimes.

Answer 2

This is only meant as an addition to what interested876 already said:
The verb "führen" means to guide, the noun "Führer" comes from it meaning someone who guides.
The already mentioned word "Anführer" is someone who leads a group etc. - a leader
Calling Hitler "Führer" has kind of a double meaning then - he guides and he leads.
BTW you can always replace the "ü" with "ue" if you don't find it on the keyboard, same goes for "ä" (ae) and "ö" (oe) - everyone speaking German will understand that.

Answer 3

Leader