Udet and Leni Riefenstahl

Barrett · 13 July 2005, 06:35 PM

Here's an intriguing site with some downloads available showing Udet flying sequences in a couple of Leni's movies.

http://www.riefenstahl.org/downloads....html#sos_leni

13 July 2005, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Barrett: Here's an intriguing site with some downloads available showing Udet flying sequences in a couple of Leni's movies.

I didn't know that she and Udet had ever had any professional associations! Many thanks, Barrett, my friend... We love her work (own a couple of her films)!

"Prost!"

Barrett · 15 July 2005, 05:45 PM

Udet and Riefenstahl were close friends

, though evidently Der Fuhrer's growing attentions toward HER tended to crowd HIM out of the way, leading to the sad events of 17 Nov 41.

15 July 2005, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Barrett: Udet and Riefenstahl were close friends , though evidently Der Fuhrer's growing attentions toward HER tended to crowd HIM out of the way, leading to the sad events of 17 Nov 41.

Sad event indeed!... A great loss to the aviation world. He was easily one of the most gifted aviators who has ever taken to cockpit. And yes, it's true, most of those "well read" know about their "close" friendship. Now you've given me reason to drink ANOTHER toast this evening... "To Udet!"

"Prost!"

Patrick · 15 July 2005, 09:37 PM

Leni was never Dolf's type of woman. He used her because she made great propaganda films that glorified National Socialism. Flirting & pretend romantics were just part of the game. He preferred women who were intellectually vapid - just look at Eva. Leni could never fit that role.

Ernst blew his brains out for a lot of reasons, not the least of them being job pressure. He was undoubtably a great aviator, but totally unsuited to lead the Technical Office of the Luftwaffe. He lacked grasp of technical detail, project management skills, risk assessment & mitigation decisions and manufacturing issues. The result was a complete disaster for the Luftwaffe in 1942 when most of Udet's development projects came to nothing -- the Me-210 & the He-177 Greif being especially spectacular fizzles. Goering was scapegoating him (not unjustified), and I think Ernst also could see what the Third Reich was becoming. One night he got drunk and decided to check out.

Barker · 16 July 2005, 12:52 AM

I'm thrilled to see these.
Udet is my favorite German pilot.

Much of what Patrick says is reasonable.
I've always believed Udet lost the capability to enjoy what had always been number one in his life: flight and flying.

Thanks, Barrett.
Am aware of these two - LR & EU - but never thought to search the net for this or them.

Bulldog90 · 16 July 2005, 07:38 AM

Udet is one of my favorite pilots too. Does anyone know what happened to the "Lo" of his airplanes, Elenore Zink? I know she was his girlfriend. I read his autobiography Ace of the Iron Cross, but after the war shes not mentioned again.

Bulldog90

Gregvan · 16 July 2005, 07:59 PM

Hi,

Udet and Eleonore Zink were married on 25 February 1920. Udet was not meant for conventional marriage, however, and this was probably doomed from the start. They separated amicably in 1922 and officially divorced in February 1923. They remained on good terms, however, and met each other occasionally. When Elly Beinhorn asked Lo why she had left Udet, Lo replied, "I left him ? You should ask him again, Elly!"

By the way, Udet had at least two illegitimate children. On the "Hitler's Henchmen" documentary series devoted to Udet, they interviewed his daughter. Then Pete Grosz tells me that Udet also had an illegitimate son, who is seen in some of the Udet films working on Udet's Curtiss Hawk...Hmm.

In a History Channel documentary on Nazi "suicide weapons", it was claimed that Udet and Hanna Reitsch were lovers, too (Erni had a LOT of 'friends'). When Udet killed himself, Reitsch (according to the documentary) then became 'friends' with Luftwaffe General

Robert Ritter von Greim, and attempted to get his backing for her plan for some kind of flying man-guided bombs. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this? It would be ironic if Hanna Reitsch was 'friends' with two Bavarian Pour le Merite-decorated WWI aces.

Greg

Patrick · 16 July 2005, 08:41 PM

Greg, I think you're referring to the piloted version of the Fieseler Fi 103. Here's the start of the article on it from Warplanes of the Third Reich by William Green:

Quote:

Of the many unorthodox weapons proposed for use by the Luftwaffe during the last 18 months of W.W. II one of the most remarkable was a piloted version of the Fi 103 missile, the so-called Vergeltungswaffe Eins or Reprisal Weapon One, which was launched in substantial numbers in pilotless form against the British Isles. Intended for use against shipping or heavily-defended ground targets, the piloted Fi 103 missile was developed under the code name Reichenberg, and its progenitors were primarily Flugkapitan Hanna Reitsch and SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Otto Skorzeny. Previously, Flugkapitan Reitsch and a certain Hautmann Heinrich Lange had promoted a scheme for the recruiting of a cadre of pilots willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary by crashing their aircraft on to important targets. Although this scheme met with little favorable response from other than a few fanatics, it was pursued in a modified form on a limited scale.

(Italics from original)

There's much more and several pictures of this disaster (think Buzz Bomb with a tiny cockpit just forward of the ramjet). Didn't Hanna eventually break her back while testing a German version of the Japanese Oka (Baka) interceptor?