Actually, there were several Nazis who, despite the stereotype, were quite intelligent. Famed author, William Shirer said that, in his opinion, the most intelligent among Hitler’s inner circle was Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Certainly no one can doubt his genius when it came to propaganda. Shirer also said that Goebbels could discuss practically any topic with ease. Another individual who would concur was actress and producer Leni Riefenstahl.
Riefenstahl was no friend of Goebbels by any stretch, but in her autobiography, she spoke of Goebbels’ chilling ability to coldly size up any situation with absolute clarity. As for IQ, there aren’t any known records of Goebbels having taken an IQ test, but most academics estimated that it was somewhere in the low 140 range, which would put him in the top 1%.
As for Hitler, whom everyone seems to be most interested in, he was considered to be broadly versed (mostly through being self-taught), yet his depth of knowledge was rather shallow and somewhat spotty overall. He was also considered rather one dimensional in terms of his personality and his intellect, whereas someone like Napoleon was not only broadly versed, but also had the depth and was capable of discussing virtually any subject intelligently. Napoleon’s personality was also much more multi-dimensional when compared to Hitler’s. Still, Hitler was quite intelligent. His estimated IQ was somewhere in the 135 - 140 range.
Another individual who was considered quite intelligent was Hjalmar Schacht who oversaw the “Nazi Miracle”, although he never joined the Nazi party, as Hitler’s Minister of Economics. Prior to that, he served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the Weimar Republic days. A trained economist, Schacht was also well educated in medicine, languages, and political science (he was a co-founder of the German Democrat Party, who were Center-Left and committed to democracy). During his tenure, he led the “free market” contingent within the Nazi Government until his dismissal.
In 1945, during the Nuremberg Trials, a US Army psychologist by the name of Gustave M. Gilbert was permitted to interview the various defendants in order to access the personalities, motivation, and in the course of doing so, to administer an IQ test. Gilbert, who held the rank of First Lieutenant, had a Doctor in Psychology from Columbia University. As an aside, he was also the son of Jewish-Austrian parents.
Now, in the case of Hjalmar Schacht, his IQ score of 143, which was the highest among the prisoners. The next highest was Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who was part of the Reich General Government in Poland, and then later served as the Reich Commissioner of the Netherlands. His IQ, according to Dr. Gilbert, was 141. Next on the list was Herman Goering, with whom most everyone is familiar. The former WWI ace and head of the Luftwaffe, among other positions, had an IQ of 138. Tied with Goring, was Hitler’s head of the Kriegsmarine and heir to what was left of the Third Reich, Admiral Karl Doenitz with an IQ of 138.
Franz von Papen, the former Prussian aristocrat, officer, Weimar Chancellor, and subsequent Vice-Chancellor under Hitler, whose actions proved to be less intelligent than his IQ of 134 might indicate (he was the minister who told his conservative friends that he could control Hitler—-”We’ve hired him”). A cut above von Papen, but with the same IQ of 134, was Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, who was head of the Kriegsmarine until 1943.
Dr. Hans Frank, Hans Fritsche, and Baldur von Schirach all got the same IQ test results of 130. Frank was a Nazi jurist and Hitler’s personal lawyer. He was also part of the Reich General Government in Poland. Less known to most people was Hans Fritsche who was the Ministerial Director at the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (the number two spot under Goebbels). Von Schirach was head of the National Youth Division (HJ and BDM) of the Nazi Party before becoming the Reich Governor of Vienna.
The next three individuals are a little surprising, especially according to Dr. Gilbert. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler’s Foreign Minister and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of Armed Forces High Command (OKH), had test results of 129 each, which surprised Gilbert. However, what most surprised Gilbert was the results of Albert Speer.
Speer, who was trained as an architect, became the Reich’s Chief Architect following the death of Paul Troost, and Chief of Construction. Speer created some of the most memorable designs of the era, including the spectacular “Cathedral of Lights” show at the 1933 Nuremberg Party Rally, the New Reich Chancellery, the Olympic Stadium, and renovated the Borsig Palace. He later became the Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production. Yet, despite all this, his IQ results were not especially impressive, with a 129 result. Gilbert later commented that he suspected Speer was distracted and didn’t take the test seriously, which in light of his education and accomplishments, is likely true.
As for the others who were tested, I will simply list their names and IQ scores below:
Field Marshall Alfred Jodl 127
Alfred Rosenberg 127
Constantin von Neurath 125
Walther Funk 124
Wilhelm Frick 124
Rudolf Hess 120
Fran Sauckel 118
Robert Ley 115 (estimated)
Ernst Kaltenbrunner 113
Julius Streicher 106
While there were no individuals in the “super genius” range, there were a few who would qualify as “genius” (140+) and “brilliant” or “near genius” (130+). Certainly, most were well above average ( an average IQ is considered to be around 100). If you would like to read more about the results of Dr. Gilbert’s work, I would suggest “The Nuremberg Interviews” by Leon Goldensohn. I suspect you’ll find it very interest
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