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Leni Riefenstahl's Impact On Nazi Germany

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Leni Riefenstahl exerted a significant impact on Nazi propaganda between 1933-1939 and epitomised Josef Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda) opinion that propaganda messages are most effective when they are disguised in popular mediums, contain partial truths and enable deeper emotional connections with the audience. She used her artistic capabilities to produce cinematic masterpieces portraying numerous Nazi ideologies. Riefenstahl also greatly impacted Nazi propaganda as she used eye witness accounts to reinforce Nazi's held opinions and Hitler's totalitarian ideologies which distorted reality with the partial truth and glorified the 'master race'. Her films appealed to the masses and reinforce key messages of the need for racial purity'; 'images …show more content…
The purpose of propaganda in Nazi Germany between 1933-39 embedded totalitarian ideologies, which reinforced existing engrained values within German history and society. Riefenstahl used subtle inferences through films that aligned with Nazism. Thus, she exerted a significant role on Nazi propaganda as she deceptively portrayed Nazi ideology in a positive light to convince the masses. This is illustrated through her film 'Triumph of the Will', described by David Welch as "most powerful film" to shows the leadership cult or "Führer myth", which was a key objective of Nazi propaganda. Riefenstahl deceptively shows the sixth party rally highlighting historical …show more content…
Other forms that also contributed to propaganda at the time include posters, music, books and speeches. While her films were produced she obtained support from Hitler and funding which contributed to the success of her films. Hence, the use of contributors decreases the role and impact Riefenstahl had on Nazi propaganda. Hitler commissioned Riefenstahl's films of the Nuremberg rallies 'Victory of the Faith' (1933) and 'Triumph of the Will' (1935). Sennett (2014) states that Riefenstahl "was given unprecedented facilities, generous state funding and access to the party hierarchy." Overall, it is seen that at least 170 people were directly participated in the filming of 'Triumph of the Will' and in addition, Riefenstahl was provided with an airship, sixteen newsreel cameramen and twenty-four chauffeur driven cars. Sennett (2014) states that the "music was to be composed by a leading film composer, Herbert Windt." Therefore, this highlights the immense resources available to her throughout her films. Hitler even chose the title of the film to convey the double meaning of "his personal triumph over the party factionalism" and the "triumph of the will of the German people". This emphasises the control that Hitler had on her films as he was the 'führer'. Goebbels is described as the 'Nazi Film Minster', where he ran the German film industry at the time. However, Bill

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