Just look at their current prime minister... that's a big support for the thesis.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...east-were-smarter-than-the-french-w86q5665ws3
Stole this answer from quora:
Why are Germans so incredibly intelligent? Not only are their IQ and test scores higher, but they just appear smarter than most other nationalities.
"First of all: I’m Swiss and know a bit more about the Swiss education system, but the German equivalent is similar, I could probably talk about the whole of Europe here.
I think the point is that Germany - along with most European states - of course hasn’t smarter people. It’s the education that forms them! It starts with the teachers, who need higher qualifications and schools which are controlled by the state. Remember that in Europe it’s simply not possibly to teach pseudo-scientific things like Intelligent Design in Biology. You could of course talk about it during Religion/Ethics-classes. But with such things the US are the exception. Things to expand your horizon are happening often, excursions to museums, theaters, concerts and so on. Music, Art, English, Sports, Biology, Physics, History and many more are a part of the curriculum, with the school often lasting until 5 PM (more Swiss, less German).
It continues with fewer students who are allowed to study at the universities, which means that the universities have usually higher scores. Since they are all run by the state and don’t cost anything/not much they are all on more or less on the same, high level.
On the other hand you’ve got apprenticeships for those that don’t qualify for universities, but even they have the chance to study with good grades in their specific field, e.q. a cook, who puts some effort into it, can later on study food technology. So you’ll very, very rarely meet unqualified people in jobs, there’s close to no one simply being a clerk or working at McDonald’s, who got into that job and stayed there.
Another thing is the general attitude towards science and education: You are somewhat expected to learn your whole life, advanced training is mandatory. You’re expected to be informed about what you’re talking, else you leave it to the professionals. The hostility towards clear facts in the US is really strange to us and rather connected with medieval times. Do you, Tyler, remember what I told you about the different types of feminism? That, to me, Americans seem to pick up random words and then oppose them, following some arguments they might have heard somewhere? If you’re talking about Evolution, Gender Equality or Feminism here you’re somewhat expected to be educated about it. Opposing Evolution without having heard of ecological niches or mutations or with a clearly refutable concepts like Intelligent Design is a no-go here.
Another example are languages: Of course there are people who are monolingual, but most aren’t. When I visited a summer school in Norway, most people (almost all from different countries in Europe) were learning Norwegian as a third language (and already pretty fluent), some had pretty good knowledge in a fourth one as well. You are expected to learn at least two, most people are open and care about other cultures, about understanding the world and want to learn more languages as a key to understand more, many won’t stop learning or wishing to learn more. Anglophones often seem to struggle with a second language."