Question catalogue in force since 2024-07-01
Practice test 9 — Saarland
33 questions as in the real exam: 30 federal and 3 on Saarland. With an explanation for every option. Free, 2026.
- Questions in the test
- 33
- Split
- 30 + 3
- Pass mark — naturalisation
- 17 / 33
- Pass mark — "Leben in Deutschland"
- 15 / 33
- Time
- 60 min
Two pass marks — read this
It is the same paper, but there are two pass marks. Naturalisation requires 17 of 33 correct. The "Leben in Deutschland" test at the end of an orientation course requires 15. So a score of 15 or 16 passes the orientation course and does not meet the naturalisation requirement. If you are sitting this for naturalisation, 17 is your number.
It is the same paper, but there are two pass marks. Naturalisation requires 17 of 33 correct. The "Leben in Deutschland" test at the end of an orientation course requires 15. So a score of 15 or 16 passes the orientation course and does not meet the naturalisation requirement. If you are sitting this for naturalisation, 17 is your number.
0 of 33 answered
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- Question 1 of 33Catalogue question 68
Why does the state control the school system in Germany?
- A — Germany also has private and denominational schools, not only state schools.
- B — Compulsory schooling exists, but it is not the reason for state supervision of schools as such.
- C — Differences between the states explain federal diversity, not state oversight of the school system itself.
- D — Correct: Art. 7(1) of the Basic Law expressly places the entire school system under the supervision of the state.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 2 of 33Catalogue question 217
During what period did the German Democratic Republic (GDR) exist?
- A — 1919 to 1927 falls within the Weimar Republic era, long before East Germany was founded.
- B — 1933 to 1945 was the Nazi era, not the East German era.
- C — 1945 to 1961 ends with the building of the wall, but East Germany continued to exist for almost thirty more years afterwards.
- D — Correct: East Germany existed from its founding on 7 October 1949 until its accession to the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 3 of 33Catalogue question 295
Which religion has shaped European and German culture?
- A — Hinduism is historically rooted mainly in South Asia and has not shaped European culture to a comparable extent.
- B — Correct: over almost two millennia, Christianity has decisively shaped the art, law, holidays, values and institutions of Europe and Germany.
- C — Buddhism is historically rooted mainly in Asia and has not shaped European culture to a comparable extent.
- D — Islam has made important contributions to world culture and today is part of Germany's religious diversity, but historically did not shape European culture to the same extent as Christianity.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 4 of 33Catalogue question 102
With what can someone be honoured in the Federal Republic of Germany for a special achievement in the political, economic, cultural, intellectual or social field? With the …
- A — Correct: the Federal Cross of Merit (officially: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) is the highest honour the Federal Republic awards for special merit.
- B — The federal eagle is Germany's heraldic animal, not an award for personal achievement.
- C — The Order of Merit of the Fatherland was an East German award, not one of the Federal Republic.
- D — The honorary title "Hero of the German Democratic Republic" was an East German award and has not existed since 1990.
Source: www.bundespraesident.de
- Question 5 of 33Catalogue question 111
Which actions relating to the State of Israel are prohibited in Germany?
- A — Publicly criticising a government's policy, including Israel's, is covered by freedom of expression (Art. 5 Basic Law).
- B — Displaying a foreign flag on private property is generally permitted and not a criminal offence.
- C — Factual discussion of politics, including about Israel, is permitted and an expression of freedom of speech.
- D — Correct: publicly calling for the destruction of a state and its population fulfils the offence of incitement to hatred (§ 130 Criminal Code) and is punishable — this applies regardless of which state is concerned, and here explicitly to Israel as well.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 6 of 33Catalogue question 122
What principle do elections in Germany follow? Elections in Germany are …
- A — Correct: Art. 38(1) of the Basic Law names five electoral principles — general, direct, free, equal, secret; "free, equal, secret" correctly names three of them.
- B — "Open" contradicts the principle of the secret ballot.
- C — "Closed" is not an electoral principle of the Basic Law.
- D — "Voluntary" is not a distinct electoral principle, even though there is in fact no compulsory voting.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 7 of 33Catalogue question 178
From June 1948 to May 1949, the citizens of West Berlin were supplied by an airlift. What circumstance was responsible for this?
- A — Cost was not the reason for the airlift; it was a forced emergency solution, not an economic decision by France.
- B — There is no documented general fear of ambushes as the reason; the roads were simply blocked.
- C — Speed was not the trigger; without the blockade, the land route would have been the obvious, faster option.
- D — Correct: from June 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded all land and water routes to West Berlin to put political pressure on the city — the Western Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 8 of 33Catalogue question 198
Which of today's German federal states was formerly part of East Germany?
- A — Bavaria lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- B — Lower Saxony lay in the British zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- C — Correct: Saxony was one of the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- D — Baden-Württemberg lay in the American/French zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 9 of 33Catalogue question 299
Foreign workers recruited by the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1950s and 1960s were called …
- A — "Undeclared workers" refers to people employed illegally, without registration — the opposite of officially recruited labour.
- B — Correct: foreign workers recruited under bilateral recruitment agreements (including with Italy, Turkey, Spain) were referred to as "guest workers" (Gastarbeiter).
- C — "Temporary agency work" is a modern employment-law concept of staff leasing, not a historical term from the 1950s/60s.
- D — "Shift work" describes a working-time model, not a designation for the foreign workers of that time.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 10 of 33Catalogue question 89
What is the association of one party's members in parliament called in Germany?
- A — An "association" is a general term for interest organisations, not a parliamentary technical term.
- B — The council of elders is a body for organising parliamentary work, not an association of party members.
- C — Correct: a Fraktion (parliamentary group) is the grouping of the members of one party (or allied parties) in parliament.
- D — Opposition refers to all non-governing parliamentary groups together, not the grouping of one single party's members.
Source: www.bundestag.de
- Question 11 of 33Catalogue question 137
Which court has jurisdiction over workplace conflicts in Germany?
- A — The family court decides on family-law matters such as divorce or custody, not workplace conflicts.
- B — The criminal court deals with criminal offences, not civil-law workplace conflicts.
- C — Correct: the labour court has specific jurisdiction over disputes arising from an employment relationship (§ 2 Labour Courts Act).
- D — The local court has jurisdiction over general civil matters of lower value in dispute, not specifically over workplace conflicts.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 12 of 33Catalogue question 35
What does the German state use to finance social insurance?
- A — Church tax finances religious communities, not state social insurance.
- B — Correct: social security contributions (to pension, health, long-term care, unemployment and accident insurance), paid jointly by employees and employers, finance social insurance.
- C — Donations are voluntary and are not a load-bearing source of funding for social insurance.
- D — Club membership fees finance clubs, not the state social insurance system.
Source: www.bundesregierung.de
- Question 13 of 33Catalogue question 50
Germany's economic system is called …
- A — A "free central economy" is a contradictory term and not a designation of the German economic system.
- B — Correct: the social market economy combines free competition with social balance (social insurance, worker protection) — Germany's economic model since 1948/49.
- C — A centrally directed economy contradicts Germany's market-based economic order.
- D — A planned economy, as existed in East Germany, is the opposite of West Germany's social market economy.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 14 of 33Catalogue question 14
Freedom of expression in Germany means that I …
- A — Insulting someone (§ 185 Criminal Code) is a criminal offence and is not covered by freedom of expression.
- B — Correct: freedom of expression (Art. 5(1) Basic Law) expressly protects stating your own opinion, including online.
- C — Publicly displaying symbols of unconstitutional or terrorist organisations is a criminal offence (§ 86a Criminal Code) and is not protected speech.
- D — The opposite is true: criticising the government is precisely a core area protected by freedom of expression.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 15 of 33Catalogue question 23
In Germany, most people in employment are …
- A — Family businesses exist, but they employ only a small share of the total workforce.
- B — Voluntary work is unpaid and does not describe the majority of employed people who earn their living this way.
- C — Only a minority of people in employment in Germany are self-employed; the large majority are employees.
- D — Correct: the large majority of people in employment in Germany are in dependent employment with a company or in the public sector.
Source: www.destatis.de
- Question 16 of 33Catalogue question 134
Someone wants to abolish the bus line you always take to work. What can you do to keep the bus line?
- A — Correct: a citizens' initiative is precisely the intended means for exerting local political influence on concrete administrative decisions such as public transport.
- B — Cycling does not solve the problem of a discontinued bus line and is not a form of political influence.
- C — Taxpayers have no direct enforceable right to a particular bus line, and the tax office is not responsible for public transport planning.
- D — The forestry office is responsible for forests, not public transport — the correct body would be the transport or public order office, or the municipal council.
Source: www.bmi.bund.de
- Question 17 of 33Catalogue question 161
What characterised the Nazi state? A policy of …
- A — Correct: with the Nuremberg Laws and its racial ideology, the Nazi state pursued a systematic, state-institutionalised racism that led to the Holocaust.
- B — Freedom of expression was abolished; dissenting opinions were persecuted.
- C — Religious communities were under heavy state pressure, and Jews were persecuted precisely because of their identity — this was not freedom of religion.
- D — The opposite was true: the democracy of the Weimar Republic was destroyed, not developed further.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 18 of 33Catalogue question 285
Ms Frost works as a permanent employee in an office. What does she not have to pay from her salary?
- A — Income tax is withheld directly from gross salary — this applies to Ms Frost as an employee.
- B — Unemployment insurance contributions are likewise deducted from salary.
- C — Pension and health insurance contributions are likewise withheld directly from salary.
- D — Correct: value-added tax (VAT) is charged when purchasing goods and services and is remitted by the seller to the tax office — it is not deducted from an employee's salary.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 19 of 33Catalogue question 187Image question
Which German state had a black-red-gold flag with a hammer, compass and wreath of grain?
- A — Prussia was a historical kingdom with its own flag (black and white), long before this symbolism.
- B — The Federal Republic uses the plain black-red-gold flag without an emblem (Art. 22 Basic Law).
- C — The "Third Reich" used the swastika flag, not a hammer, compass and wreath of grain.
- D — Correct: from 1959, the East German (GDR) flag showed the state emblem — a hammer (the working class), a compass (the intelligentsia) and a wreath of grain (the peasantry) — on a black-red-gold background.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 20 of 33Catalogue question 36
Which measure provides social security in Germany?
- A — Correct: statutory health insurance is one of the five pillars of social insurance and secures medical care for everyone insured.
- B — Car insurance protects against financial risks in road traffic but is not social insurance.
- C — Building insurance protects property, not people's social security.
- D — Liability insurance covers damage to third parties but is not part of statutory social insurance.
- Question 21 of 33Catalogue question 170
What existed in Germany during the Nazi era?
- A — Correct: under the 1933 "Law against the Formation of New Parties", the Nazi party was the only permitted party — all others were banned.
- B — The right to the free development of one's personality is a basic right under today's Basic Law (Art. 2); in the Nazi state, the individual was subordinated to the "national community".
- C — There was strict press censorship and forced coordination (Gleichschaltung), not press freedom.
- D — The protection of human dignity as an inviolable basic right is a lesson drawn from the Nazi era, only anchored in 1949 in Art. 1 of the Basic Law — in the Nazi state, human dignity was systematically violated.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 22 of 33Catalogue question 182
What is the Jewish house of prayer called?
- A — A basilica is a type of building, often used in Christianity, not a Jewish house of prayer.
- B — A mosque is the Islamic house of prayer, not the Jewish one.
- C — Correct: the synagogue is the house of prayer and religious centre of the Jewish community.
- D — A church is the Christian house of prayer, not the Jewish one.
Source: www.zentralratderjuden.de
- Question 23 of 33Catalogue question 261
A man wants to complete his Abitur at age 30 in Germany. Where can he do this?
- A — A university already requires the Abitur as a prerequisite; you cannot obtain it there.
- B — Correct: an evening grammar school (Abendgymnasium) enables working adults to obtain the Abitur later in life alongside their job.
- C — The Hauptschule leads to a lower-level qualification, not the Abitur.
- D — A private university likewise already requires a higher education entrance qualification.
Source: www.kmk.org
- Question 24 of 33Catalogue question 181Image question
What did Willy Brandt want to express with his kneeling gesture at the former Jewish ghetto in Warsaw in 1970?
- A — The kneeling gesture was not a political-military gesture of submission to the Allies but a moral-historical one.
- B — Correct: on 7 December 1970, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt spontaneously knelt at the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising — an internationally noted gesture asking forgiveness for the Nazi crimes against Polish Jews.
- C — The "Warsaw Pact" was the Eastern military alliance, not the addressee of a gesture of humility in this context.
- D — The kneeling took place at the ghetto memorial, not at a grave of the Unknown Soldier.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 25 of 33Catalogue question 242
In Germany, who decides whether a child attends kindergarten?
- A — Unlike compulsory schooling, attending kindergarten is not mandated by the state in Germany.
- B — The federal states do regulate the legal framework (e.g. the right to a childcare place), but do not decide in individual cases whether a particular child attends.
- C — Correct: attending kindergarten is voluntary in Germany; the parents or legal guardians decide whether their child goes.
- D — Schools are responsible for compulsory schooling, not for the kindergarten decision, which comes before school age.
Source: www.bmfsfj.de
- Question 26 of 33Catalogue question 32
Which of these is not a branch of state power in Germany?
- A — Legislation is one of the three branches of state power under Art. 20(2) of the Basic Law.
- B — Government belongs to the executive branch, one of the three branches of state power.
- C — Correct: the press is often called the "fourth estate" but is not a branch of state power under Art. 20(2) of the Basic Law — it is precisely independent of the state.
- D — The judiciary is one of the three branches of state power under Art. 20(2) of the Basic Law.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 27 of 33Catalogue question 201
Which of the following lists contains only federal states that belonged to former East Germany?
- A — Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein were West German states; only Brandenburg belonged to East Germany.
- B — Correct: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are exactly the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- C — Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate were West German states; only Thuringia and Saxony belonged to East Germany.
- D — Hesse and Lower Saxony were West German states; only Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg belonged to East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 28 of 33Catalogue question 132
Many people in Germany volunteer in their free time. What does that mean?
- A — Military service is a paid, full-time or compulsory activity, not volunteering in the sense meant here.
- B — Correct: volunteering means voluntary, unpaid work, for example in sports clubs, fire brigades or social organisations.
- C — Government work is a paid, full-time position, not volunteering.
- D — Paid work in a hospital is gainful employment, not volunteering — the core of volunteering is precisely that it is unpaid.
Source: www.bmfsfj.de
- Question 29 of 33Catalogue question 56
Which office belongs to municipal administration in Germany?
- A — The parish office is a church institution, not a municipal administrative authority.
- B — Correct: the public order office (Ordnungsamt) is a classic authority of local self-government, responsible for example for local public safety and order.
- C — The tax office is a state (Land) authority (with federal oversight on tax matters), not a municipal authority.
- D — The Federal Foreign Office is a top-level federal authority for foreign policy, not a municipal institution.
Source: www.bmi.bund.de
- Question 30 of 33Catalogue question 162
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg became known for …
- A — Stauffenberg was not an Olympic participant; he was a Wehrmacht officer.
- B — The Reichstag building was completed in 1894, long before Stauffenberg's time.
- C — He was a Wehrmacht officer, but is not known as the builder of the Wehrmacht.
- D — Correct: on 20 July 1944, Stauffenberg carried out the failed bomb attack on Hitler as part of Operation Valkyrie — the best-known act of military resistance against the Nazi regime.
Source: www.bpb.de
Questions on Saarland
Question 31 of 33Saarland · Catalogue question 7The state capital of the Saarland is called …
- A — Neunkirchen is a town in the Saarland, but not the state capital.
- B — Homburg is home to the Saarland's university hospital, but is not the state capital.
- C — Correct: Saarbrücken is the state capital of the Saarland and the seat of the state parliament and state government.
- D — Völklingen is known for its UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Völklingen Ironworks, but is not the state capital.
Source: www.saarland.de
- Question 32 of 33Saarland · Catalogue question 8Image question
Which federal state is the Saarland?
Kartengeometrie: Natural Earth (ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces), Public Domain. Karte für diese App gezeichnet. - A — Correct: on this map the number 1 sits on Saarland. The Saarland is the smallest area state and borders France and Luxembourg.
- B — On this map the number 2 marks a different federal state. The Saarland is the smallest area state and borders France and Luxembourg.
- C — On this map the number 3 marks a different federal state. The Saarland is the smallest area state and borders France and Luxembourg.
- D — On this map the number 4 marks a different federal state. The Saarland is the smallest area state and borders France and Luxembourg.
Source: www.saarland.de
- Question 33 of 33Saarland · Catalogue question 6
Where can you get information about political topics in the Saarland?
- A — Churches are religious institutions and not an official point of contact for political education.
- B — Correct: the Saarland State Centre for Political Education is the responsible institution for cross-party political information.
- C — The consumer advice centre advises on consumer issues, not political education.
- D — The public order office deals with public safety and order, not political education.
Source: www.saarland.de
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Questions on Saarland · Practice tests
Last checked: · Question catalogue in force since 2024-07-01 · Every figure on this page is checked against its primary source.