This recording http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ClR9tcpKZec was on the front page yesterday. It got me wondering how Hitler's voice would have been perceived by the German population. Was it aristocratic? Common? Did he have a regional dialect? Did his voice and the perception of him affect his popularity? Was he seen as a man of the people or as a member of the ruling class?
I ask as a Brit with my own biases and understanding of accent and class. How relevant were such things to Germany at the time? Churchill for example was very much an aristocrat, a member of the ruling class, and he sounded like it.
Edit : mirror for those in Germany and elsewhere the vid is blocked http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/09/08/hitlerin-salaa-tallennettu-keskustelu-suomessa#media=3913
Oh FFS.
Hitler's VOICE!
Voice. How would Hitler's voice have been perceived?
Here's a thread that may have an answer for you
I'm not sure if it is what you were looking for, but I hope it helps!
Hitler's speech and usage of language wasn't in any way aristocratic or elegant. His rhetoric was framed in a way that showed how much he wanted to be seen as well read and an intellectual. Hitler was the son of a government worker and of middle class. Hitler's charm and appeal was in the way he was able to tell people what they wanted to hear. He was very perceptive and knew people..which was surprising considering what an awkward guy he was. He first started changing his perception of self and goals after he was blinded for a short period of time as a first class private. In the beginning when he was running for elections - he failed a few times. He did tone down the anti-semitic rhetoric to appeal to more voters and visited the middle-lower economic classes unlike some of his opponents.
People started to really love him when Germany hit a low economic point because he had been warning of an economic collapse for a while and when it finally happened - people started to hate that the German government let American and other foreign loans/money/intervention make their country weak and reliant.