Erna Piffl (1904–1987)

Piffl specialised in depictions of Tracht, traditional Austrian dress. Her involvement in the Nazi movement opened up her career opportunities because she was able to show her watercolours in prominent exhibitions. Her long-term influence was ensured by her work for the Ahnenerbe, an SS “research” organisation looking at “ancestral heritage”. There, her images played a major role in the pseudo-scientific research carried out in occupied territories to substantiate racist assertions, and they brought her to fame. 

After the end of Nazi rule she illustrated catalogues that determined what would be classed as “authentic Tracht” (for Upper Austria in 1955, for example). Ethnographic exhibitions about Tracht often included her pictures—including those produced for the SS Ahnenerbe. Her graphics continued to convey ideas and a visual language that had been shaped by Nazism.