The invention relates to a drum brake for motor vehicles, having a hydraulically activated operating brake and an emergency brake that is mechanically activated by means of a Bowden cable, the aim of said invention being to ensure a permanent pre-stressing of the Bowden cable. For the initial installation, a fixing plate (60) locks the emergency brake lever (25) to the web plate (36) of the secondary shoe (24) against the force of the return spring (22). After assembling the Bowden cable and adjusting the pre-stressing of the emergency brake cable, the lock is released by forcefully pulling on the emergency brake rod. If the emergency brake cable stretches over the course of several years, a constructively determined pre-stressing is therefore always maintained due to the constant force by the return spring (22).