Career
He was a cameraman during the Nazi era, and worked with Leni Riefenstahl on several of her Nazi propaganda films as well as on her Olympia film. During World World War II he was among the preferred cameramen accompanying (then) General Rommel which earned him a reputation as "Rommel"s photographer". In the mid-1950s he resettled in Bolivia where he made two "expedition film"-like documentaries of feature length.
He embarked on a third, but ceased after his tractor crashed through a wooden bridge with two thirds of the (uninsured) exposed footage on board.
Frustrated he then decided to become a farmer and retired to a piece of semi-jungle land in Eastern Bolivia. Ertl died in 2000 and he was buried on his farm which is now a museum.
1930 First ascent of the Königspitze north face
1931 First ascent of the Ortler north face
1934 First ascent of Sia Kangri
1950 First solo-climb of Illimani South, first ascent of Illimani North
1951 Second ascent of Illampu
1953 Camp 5 (6900 m) on Nanga Parbat, where he took the famous pictures of Hermann Buhl returning from his solo first ascent.