- Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg trials had high IQ scores.
- But Hitler’s estimated IQ is around 115–120, possibly above average.
- Hitler’s reading habit included over 16,300 books in his personal library.
- He was a skilled politician, rose from obscurity, showcased strategic foresight.
- Lack of empathy and rigid social Darwinism beliefs are indicative of lower emotional intelligence.
All Nazi defendants’ intelligence levels were tested at the Nuremberg trials and except for Julius Streicher, they were all much more intelligent than average humans. Hermann Göring came in third with a 138 IQ score, while Hjalmar Schacht and Arthur Seyss-Inquart both scored above 140 on the test. But how intelligent was Adolf Hitler? Adolf Hitler almost certainly did not have a high IQ level. Hitler’s IQ score was never tested, but his intelligence level was most likely above average. According to various arguments, he could very well have had a 120+ IQ level. Let’s see the reasons.
Estimating Hitler’s IQ Compared to His Officers
Below is the list of Nazis whose IQ scores were officially tested. When you keep in mind that Hitler was the absolute leader and mentor of these men for more than 10 years, he could have placed in the top 10 on this list with a 130 or higher IQ score or in only the top 20 with a slightly above average IQ. This depends on how you want to speculate on Hitler’s IQ level.
- Hjalmar Schacht – 143
- Arthur Seyss-Inquart – 141
- Hermann Göring – 138
- Karl Dönitz – 138
- Franz von Papen – 134
- Eric Raeder – 134
- Dr. Hans Frank – 130
- Hans Fritzsche – 130
- Baldur von Schirach – 130
- Joachim von Ribbentrop – 129
- Wilhelm Keitel – 129
- Albert Speer – 128
- Alfred Jodl – 127
- Alfred Rosenberg – 127
- Constantin von Neurath – 125
- Walther Funk – 124
- Wilhelm Frick – 124
- Rudolf Hess – 120
- Adolf Hitler’s IQ – 115–120
- Fritz Sauckel – 118
- Ernst Kaltenbrunner – 113
- Julius Streicher – 106
Yes, some of the chief ideologues of the Third Reich were geniuses, as were some of the greatest criminals in contemporary history. However, it is impossible to determine Hitler’s intelligence level with certainty. Real evidence is rare, and we can only speculate based on clues.
The IQ tests of the high-level Third Reich officials in question were conducted on 21 of the 24 Nazis. Martin Bormann was prosecuted in his absence because he was presumed dead, and Robert Ley was able to kill himself while in jail.
A 115+ IQ score signifies intelligence above average, while a 130+ score is the hallmark of a high IQ, which usually falls in the top 2% of the population.
Indicators of Hitler’s High IQ Level
Ahead of the Game
- Hitler’s political acumen propelled him from obscurity to leadership.
- And his steadfast resolve impressed even intelligent Nazi officers.
Hitler, despite his atrocities, was a skilled politician who rose from obscurity to become Germany’s leader. He had a talent for manipulating people and staying ahead of political plots. Though his vision was flawed and resulted in immense harm, he was able to think in grandiose terms. In that regard alone, Hitler’s overall intelligence profile resembles that of a person with a higher-than-average IQ, near the range of 120.
Without higher-than-average intelligence, it is unlikely that Hitler could have gone from being one of the lowest members of society to becoming one of the most significant individuals on Earth within around 10 years following the creation of the NSDAP. He was more sociable and imaginative than the average person.
Hitler often maintained his resolve in the face of the complexity of a problem, when the majority of the smart Nazi officers often did not. In fact, more intelligent individuals like Goebbels or Heydrich were specifically impressed by Hitler’s rigidity. However, steadfastness is not always an indication of high intelligence.
A Prolific Reader
- Hitler read over 16,300 books, prioritizing reading during WWI.
- This voracious reading habit exceeded typical soldier distractions.
Adolf Hitler was a prolific reader with a voracious reading habit. He read extensively from a young age and would often devour entire libraries. In Vienna, he spent much of his time pouring over books, memorizing large portions of his favorites. It is estimated that Hitler read more books than anyone else, with over 16,300 books in his personal library. Despite being a soldier in World War I, Hitler prioritized books over other distractions during the war, choosing to spend his limited funds on books instead of prostitutes and cigarettes like other soldiers.
This unusual reading habit may not necessarily indicate that Hitler had a high IQ, but history shows that many of the most intelligent people were ferocious readers no matter their profession, and people with below-average IQ often do not turn into bookworms. If the claims and statistics hold true, Hitler could very well be the person who read the most books in history.
His Photographic Memory
- His photographic memory revealed Opera Garnier’s hidden details.
The photographic memory is often a sign of exceptional IQ, and it’s said that Hitler, during his swift trip to Paris in June 1940, knew the Opera Garnier’s rooms, its tour guide, and even a secret room’s existence and location by his memory.
He had previously gained immense expertise in the opera house just by memorizing the blueprints. During the visit, he looked at every detail of the main staircase, the lobby, and the parterre and later pointed out a missing salon. This was despite the fact that his favorite composer, Richard Wagner’s pieces, had been performed a few times in the opera house.
Acknowledging the Intelligence
- A strategic foresight and cunning for ‘world dominance’.
Hitler’s IQ was sufficiently high for strategic foresight and cunning in the quest for ‘world dominance’. He was most likely smarter than many famous world leaders in history. After all, Hitler managed to gather many highly intelligent officers around him and keep them there for many years by acknowledging their intelligence.
Indicators Regarding Hitler’s Only Average IQ
A Poor Student
- Hitler’s school struggles hint at a lower IQ level.
- Many top Nazis had higher IQ scores than Hitler.
Adolf Hitler descended from a long line of farmers dating back almost to the Middle Ages. This background does not provide concrete proof of his intelligence level, but it is one factor to consider in the larger picture. Hitler went to school in Linz, where he started well but ultimately struggled badly in high school. Hitler’s father was disappointed in him because he had anticipated that his son would follow in his footsteps and become a government employee. He was a poor student, and his professional and military accomplishments up to 1920 are consistent with the label “dumb.”
Most of Hitler’s officers were cognitively superior to him.
In light of these signals, Hitler’s IQ was perhaps as low as 110, which is shockingly low for a non-monarchical European head of state. Indeed, several of the top Nazis were discovered to have IQ scores over 120, often even 130, but there is concrete evidence that they were cognitively superior to Hitler.
A Shallow Person
- Hitler was often among the least informed in Nazi discussions.
It is stated that Adolf Hitler was often one of the least knowledgeable people in discussions around Nazis circles. Long evenings spent talking with Hitler about politics, art, and anything else that came to mind are said to have made most people at the Berghof dreadfully bored.
After all, Hitler was a politician who rose from obscurity to become Germany’s ruler, so he surely wasn’t a total moron. He was able to manipulate people to his advantage and stay one step ahead of plots inside his own party. In his own way, Hitler was still a visionary who relished thinking in big-picture terms.
Not a Successful Soldier
- Hitler showed limited genius, excelling mainly in politics.
But when it comes to Hitler’s IQ, he left behind only a few marks of genius in his other endeavors, apart from his political career. Hitler was not a successful soldier; he was an ordinary painter and the author of a nearly incomprehensible book.
When it came to science and economics, Hitler was only interested in them when they could be applied to the military. The military is the only area in which he is known to have obtained substantial experience (apart from potentially in the arts), although he is often regarded as unstable and incompetent on the battlefield.
Lazy, Indecisive, and Stubborn
- Hitler was seen as lazy, indecisive, and stubborn, lacking insight.
- His background lacked intellectual stimulation, suggesting an average IQ.
During the first six years of his presidency, Hitler earned a reputation for being lazy, indecisive, and, once he made up his mind, exceedingly stubborn. He was a quick-tempered, superstitious man. Hitler reportedly mocked some smart people and said that IQ testing was a “Jewish invention.” His speeches were powerful but lacked insight and wit.
No one piece of evidence above regarding Hitler’s IQ is particularly strong, and some of it might just as well apply to someone who is very brilliant, but when put together, they suggest that Hitler’s IQ might have been above average at best, in the range of 115–120.
You can also determine a person’s level of intelligence by looking into their eyes. Despite the fact that this is purely subjective, it is hard to find any photograph of Hitler in which his eyes convey a sense of deeper comprehension of the world, unlike most other Nazi officials with higher IQs.
Hitler came from a background that would be considered rather “ignorant” today. There are no reports regarding the young Hitler’s intellectual or creative prodigies. He most likely had the typical century-long dosage of rural parental thrashing and apathy as he grew up in Braunau, like many rural citizens at the time. The world was mostly distant from parental supervision during this period.
Hitler anticipated certain political responses, but he miscalculated in terms of a wider strategy. His inability to acknowledge England’s desire to make peace with Germany, the significance of the economic capacities of the USA and the USSR, and the utter miscalculation of Germany’s own strength are concerning regarding his intellect. Many politicians were willing to use war as a tool for political ends, but the characteristic of megalomaniacal fascists has often been nothing more than “total war.”
The question is: Can someone like Hitler, who believes a total war against the USSR and the USA could be won at the time, be intelligent? Hitler’s life was molded more by his hatred than by his intellect, and it is reasonable to assume that Hitler lacked a high level of intelligence.
Indicators of Hitler’s Lower IQ Level
- Hitler’s stubbornness is indicative of his lesser ability to learn and think.
- His speeches lacked depth, targeting specific audiences for persuasion.
Characteristics like stubbornness and ignorance have an impact on one’s capacity to learn, which is a reference to his IQ level. Hitler was not particularly gifted at mentally delving into an issue, exploring several scenarios, shifting views, or even thinking back on his deeds. His steadfastness, even stubbornness, in sticking to his once-conceived, improbable, and even illegal plans—as well as his willingness to frequently take the risk of a gambler—was what ironically gave him his power.
His speeches were rarely clever, allusive, humorous, or intellectually persuasive; instead, Hitler only tried to persuade the class of people whom he thought needed to be persuaded. So, he did that.
But Hitler was unaware that his main initiative—the endeavor to acquire living space up to the Ural Mountains—could never have succeeded. An educated and intelligent individual would have realized in 1939 that the Western countries could never have approved of the invasion of Poland, yet Hitler nevertheless made allowances for it. He stubbornly and foolishly prohibited any tactical withdrawal throughout the conflict, starting in 1942.
Do Intelligent People Tend to Lack Empathy?
- Hitler’s beliefs reflect a lack of empathy and humanistic education.
- Intellect should align with empathy, lacking in Hitler’s ideology.
After all, this is a question of a man’s IQ who did not place a high value on human life. But the world naturally wonders what was going through this man’s head. Belief in authority, a binary worldview, and a strong tendency toward social Darwinism don’t exactly point to a sophisticated knowledge of interrelationships that is often a sign of intelligence.
Heinrich Mann, a German author, wrote in “Der Untertan” (“Man of Straw”) with almost masterful conviction about how the typical upbringing of the time made a lot of authority-seeking mental cripples and sadistic jerks.
People like Goebbels, whose high intelligence, sadly, was only reflected in antisocial, inhumane thinking and action, are demonstrative of high, criminal intellect. But some people have a strong feeling that Goebbels himself didn’t believe in the nonsense that was the basis of the Nazi dictatorship. It’s fair to wonder how much Hitler truly believed his own folly, especially during a war that dispelled the myth of the master race for those who had previously been ideologically blind.
Is it possible to be considered intelligent if one believes that cruelty and jaded Darwinism are “purifying forces” in the development of humanity? National socialism grossly ignores the realities of society when it attempts to explain the world in simple categories. The distinction of ‘inferiors’ and ‘superiors’, and the killing of whole populations as treatments for “people’s bodies” that are said to be suffering from “parasitic pests” are not signs of analytical intelligence. Instead, they show a lack of empathy, a humanistic education, and a social vision that is pathologically distorted.
Some individuals believe that great intellect, as shown by figures like Albert Einstein or Goethe, must go hand in hand with a humanistic outlook on life and a favorable attitude toward all living creatures. Humor is also a crucial indicator of true intellect—things that one would have hoped to find in Hitler but probably couldn’t.
Why the Nazis’ IQ Was Tested at Nuremberg
- The average IQ of Hitler’s men at the Nuremberg Trials was 128.
- IQ tests were given to Nazi leaders to prevent defense excuses.
Why were the Nazis’ IQs tested in the first place at Nuremberg after World War II? Some individuals have had doubts regarding the Nuremberg IQ tests taken by the Nazis that were purportedly prepared by US agencies. But during the Nuremberg Trials in 1945, it was the Jewish American psychologist Gustave Gilbert who assessed the mental capacities of 21 Nazi defendants. The Nazi inmates had an average IQ of 128, with the exception of the owner of an anti-Semitic publication.
The accused were evaluated using the Wechsler-Bellevue IQ exam, a forerunner to the widely used WAIS test. The Nazi leaders had to be given an IQ test to prevent the “I was only following orders” defense.
Most people don’t realize that many Nazi leaders, including Hermann Göring, came from privileged houses and had high levels of education. Hitler’s intellect allowed him to keep people like Göring in line all the time.
It’s a misconception to think that only dumb people could have ever become Nazis. We must accept that intelligence is not always synonymous with goodness.
