Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes

Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes (Racial Science of the German People), is a book written by Hans Günther and published in 1922.^[1] The book strongly influenced the racial policy of the German Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler was so impressed by the work, that he made it the basis of his eugenics policy.^[2] The book had gone through six editions by 1926, and by 1945, more than half a million copies had been sold in Germany.^[3] In the book Günther recognized the Germans as being composed of five Aryan racial subtypes: Nordic, Mediterranean race, Alpine, East Baltic, and Dinaric, viewing Nordics as being at the top of the racial hierarchy.^[4] He defined each racial subtype according to general physical appearance and their psychological qualities including their "racial soul" - referring to their emotional traits and religious beliefs, and provided detailed information on their hair, eye, and skin colours, facial structure.^[5] He provided photographs of Germans identified as Nordic in places like Bedan, Stuttgart, Salzburg, and Schwaben; and provided photographs of Germans he identified as Nordic and Mediterranean types, especially in Bavaria and the Black Forest region of Baden.^[6]