Mensa Austria

Mensa Österreich (Mensa Austria) is the Austrian national group of Mensa International, the worldwide society for people who score in the top 2% of the population on standardized intelligence tests (roughly IQ 130 or above). It was founded in 1964, eighteen years after Mensa was established in England, making it the oldest high-IQ association in the German-speaking world. Its seat and main focus are in Vienna, and it has active local groups in all Austrian federal states. As of 2023 the association reported just over 1,200 members. The organization functions as a network and club for gifted people. It offers admission testing through its website mensatest.at, and those who meet the IQ criterion can join both the Austrian and the worldwide Mensa community. Members organize lectures, game nights, museum visits, excursions and special-interest groups (SIGs), and the association holds a nationwide annual meeting called Charming at Pentecost, which includes the legally required general assembly. About 30% of members are women. Mensa Österreich also promotes intelligence research and support in Austria, and it observes 1 October — the date Mensa was founded in England in 1946 — as Day of Intelligence, offering admission tests at half price (€20 instead of €40) around that time. Mensa Österreich publishes a bimonthly member magazine called topIQ (known as Diskussion until 2008), typically around 48 A4 pages, featuring articles by members and guest authors. It maintains a members' community platform at community.mensa.at and a public events calendar. In 2024, members appeared on the ORF television quiz show CLEVER – die Rätselshow alongside celebrity partners. The association is organized primarily by federal state, each led by a local secretary (LocSec). It is an independent Austrian association affiliated with Mensa International, not a commercial company, but it operates under the Mensa trademark and brand.

Mensa was founded in Oxford in 1946 by lawyers Lancelot Ware and Roland Berrill. Victor Serebriakoff took over leadership in 1953 and led the small, purely English association to sustained international success. Members were increasingly admitted in other countries, initially without separate organizations. In autumn 1960 an American branch was established, which spread rapidly, and an Australian representation was also set up that same year. Both were formally regional groups of British Mensa at first, but the question arose of transforming Mensa from a purely British community into an international organization. In 1961, however, members rejected the adoption of an international constitution (for which two competing drafts were submitted) in a ballot, and Mensa remained under British leadership for the time being. In June 1963 the first Mensa in continental Europe was founded in the Netherlands, which gave new impetus to the question of an international structure. In the same year the German writer Michael Soltikow planned to found a Mensa for the entire German-speaking area, but no association was founded at that point. Mensa meanwhile received increased media attention in its home country. At the British annual meeting in November 1963 at Conway Hall, where the Austrian-born philosopher Karl Popper gave the keynote address, British television reported on it. There the members decided to establish an international board separate from the British one. In 1964 the Viennese psychologist couple Georg and Vera Fischhof happened to meet the then English Secretary General of Mensa, Viktor Serebriakoff, during a holiday in Italy, and he told them about the association over dinner. Fascinated by the idea, the couple decided on the spot to found a Mensa in Austria as well. In April 1964 Serebriakoff visited Austria and supported the Fischhofs in founding the association, which took place in May. In June 1964 the international constitution was adopted, and in September 1964 the first election to the international board was held. Each recognized national Mensa provided a representative. The Fischhofs' professional activity also included conducting IQ tests for job applicants, which they used to recruit members for the association. They invited candidates with a sufficient result to join Mensa Österreich. One of the first members was the linguist and mental calculator Hans Eberstark, who moved to Switzerland the following year and founded Mensa Switzerland there. In 1966 the German psychologist Herbert Steiner also founded the Deutsche Mensa e. V. (This association was dissolved in 1979 due to financial difficulties; in 1981 it was re-founded as the Mensa in Germany that still exists today.) An early prominent member of Mensa Österreich was the industrialist, publicist and later politician Georg Mautner Markhof. He gave a lecture for the Association of Austrian Business Graduates, Die Problematik der Demokratie, again at Mensa and noted this in the written publication. Initially Mensa Österreich was active mainly in Vienna and gradually expanded to the entire federal territory in the mid-1970s. Today Mensa Österreich has active local groups in all federal states. In 1984, according to Victor Serebriakoff's book Mensa, Mensa Österreich was with 466 members the largest Mensa in continental Europe and outside the English-speaking world. At times Mensa Österreich was the largest Mensa outside the English-speaking world. In more recent developments, in the ORF television show CLEVER – die Rätselshow in January and February 2024, members of Mensa Österreich competed together with celebrity partners (including Werner Gruber, Clemens Maria Schreiner and Silvia Schneider) against three-person puzzle teams. Mensa Österreich is primarily organized by federal states, within which meetings and events are held. Frequent events are lectures, game nights, visits and excursions of all kinds. The chairperson within a federal state is called local secretary or LocSec. There are also so-called SIGs (special interest groups) where members come together according to their interests. One example is the fedSIG, the group of Star Trek fans among Austrian Mensa members. Once a year at Pentecost there is a nationwide meeting at changing locations, called Charming, with the general assembly required by association law. The proportion of women among association members is about 30%. Like other Mensas, Mensa Österreich observes 1 October, when Mensa was founded in England in 1946, as Day of Intelligence. Around this date Mensa Österreich offers admission tests at half price (€20 instead of €40). Six times a year the colorfully illustrated member magazine (about 48 A4 pages) called topIQ (until 2008 Diskussion) appears, in which articles on all kinds of topics written by members and guest authors are published.

• 2024

  Members appear on ORF television show CLEVER – die Rätselshow.

• 2023

  Mensa Österreich reports just over 1,200 members.

• 2008

  Member magazine Diskussion renamed topIQ.

• 1984

  With 466 members, Mensa Österreich is the largest Mensa in continental Europe and outside the English-speaking world.

• 1970

  Mensa Österreich gradually expands from Vienna to the entire federal territory.

• 1966

  Deutsche Mensa e.V. founded by Herbert Steiner.

• 1964

  Mensa Österreich founded in May by Georg and Vera Fischhof with support from Viktor Serebriakoff; international constitution adopted in June; first international board election in September.

• 1963

  First Mensa in continental Europe founded in the Netherlands; British annual meeting decides to create an international board.

• 1960

  American and Australian branches established.

• 1953

  Victor Serebriakoff takes over leadership of Mensa.

• 1946

  Mensa founded in Oxford, England by Lancelot Ware and Roland Berrill.

The Austrian national branch of Mensa International, the oldest high-IQ association in the German-speaking world, offering a network for gifted individuals.

• Membership

  Open to those scoring in the top 2% on an admission test (IQ ≥ 130).

• Admission testing

  IQ testing offered via mensatest.at; discounted to €20 on Day of Intelligence.

• topIQ magazine

  Bimonthly member magazine (about 48 A4 pages), formerly Diskussion until 2008.

• Events and SIGs

  Lectures, game nights, visits, excursions, and special interest groups such as fedSIG.

• Charming annual meeting

  Nationwide meeting at Pentecost with the general assembly.

1. 1Mensa Österreich - Netzwerk & Verein für Hochbegabtemensa.at
2. 2Mensa Österreichde.wikipedia.org
3. 3Mensa Österreichwikidata.org