A League of German Girls column on the road, 1937

On a grassy rise four girls in white blouses and black neckerchiefs push a swastika flag into the ground; below them the land rolls away in curving strips of plough and stubble, and a pair of oxen draws a cart along a field road. Then the column comes down a cobbled road between young trees, older girls in uniform in front, little ones with rucksacks and bread bags behind, some in striped jumpers and plain dresses, singing behind a black pennant with a white sign.

The archive record places the march on the road between Nuremberg and Dresden. By the Hitler Youth Law of December 1936 the League of German Girls, under Baldur von Schirach's Reich Youth Leadership, became the youth of the state; the Fahrt, the hike with flag and song, was its most loved ritual.