Question catalogue in force since 2024-07-01
History and responsibility
The Weimar Republic and why it failed, 1933 and National Socialism, the Holocaust and Germany's lasting responsibility, the end of the war in 1945, the division of Germany, the GDR, the building of the Wall in 1961, 9 November 1989 and reunification in 1990.
The Weimar Republic
After the First World War, Germany became a democracy for the first time in 1918/19. The new constitution was adopted in Weimar, which is where the name Weimar Republic comes from. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in 1919. The republic was under pressure from the start: many people rejected it, there were political murders and attempted coups, then the inflation of 1923 and, from 1929, the global economic crisis with millions unemployed. Parliament held many small parties, stable majorities were lacking, and governments changed often. The Basic Law later drew clear conclusions from this experience.
Source: www.bpb.de
1933: the end of democracy
On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor. Within a few months the NSDAP abolished democracy. Basic rights were suspended, other parties and the trade unions were banned, and opponents were taken to concentration camps. There were no more free elections and no free press; books were burned in public. A state under the rule of law became a dictatorship with only one permitted party. Important for the test: Hitler did not come to power by winning a referendum but was appointed — and the seizure of power was then secured by violence and by laws.
Source: www.bpb.de
The Holocaust
National Socialism persecuted people because of their origin, their faith, their disability or their political convictions. On 9 November 1938 synagogues burned across Germany, Jewish businesses were destroyed and people were carried off. In the Holocaust the Nazi regime murdered around six million Jews. It also murdered Sinti and Roma, people with disabilities, political opponents, homosexuals, prisoners of war and many others. Auschwitz has become the symbol of this crime; 27 January, the day Auschwitz was liberated, is Germany's day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism.
Source: www.bundestag.de
Responsibility today
A lasting responsibility follows from this history. It does not mean guilt on the part of people living today, but a duty to remember and to prevent any repetition. That is why the Basic Law protects human dignity in Article 1, why incitement to hatred and Holocaust denial are criminal offences, and why the Federal Constitutional Court can ban parties hostile to the constitution. Memorial sites, Stolpersteine and survivors' testimony keep the memory alive. Protecting Jewish life in Germany and opposing antisemitism are part of this responsibility too. Anyone naturalised in Germany enters into this shared responsibility.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
War and its end: 8 May 1945
On 1 September 1939 Germany began the Second World War with its attack on Poland. It lasted until 1945 and cost many millions of lives worldwide; whole cities lay in ruins. On 8 May 1945 the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally. Today that day is regarded in Germany not as a defeat but as the day of liberation from the Nazi dictatorship. The four victorious powers — the USA, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France — then took over the administration and divided Germany into four occupation zones. Berlin too was divided, into four sectors.
Source: www.bpb.de
Two German states from 1949
Two states emerged from the occupation zones in 1949. In the west, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded on 23 May, with the Basic Law, several parties and a social market economy. Its capital was initially Bonn. In the east, the German Democratic Republic was created on 7 October, with East Berlin as its capital. Konrad Adenauer became the first Federal Chancellor. The division was part of the Cold War: the west belonged to the alliance led by the USA, the east to the Soviet sphere of power. Important for the test: 1949 is the founding year of both German states, not just one of them.
Source: www.bundesregierung.de
The GDR: a state without free elections
In the GDR one party, the SED, controlled the state. There were elections, but not free ones: the distribution of seats was fixed in advance and genuine rival candidates were not permitted. The press was censored, travel to the west was forbidden for most people, and the Ministry for State Security watched the population with the help of numerous informers. Anyone voicing criticism risked losing their job or being imprisoned. The economy was planned by the state and businesses were state-owned. On 17 June 1953 an uprising by workers was crushed with Soviet tanks.
Source: www.bpb.de
The Wall from 1961 to 1989
Because more and more people were leaving the GDR, its leadership had a wall built in Berlin on 13 August 1961. The border between the two German states was also secured with fences, watchtowers and mines. The Wall separated families and friends for almost 28 years. Anyone who still tried to flee to the west risked their life; people were shot dead at the border. Officially the GDR called the Wall a protection against the west — in reality it was meant to stop its own population from leaving. This is a frequent question in the catalogue.
Source: www.bpb.de
9 November 1989
In the autumn of 1989 more and more people in the GDR took to the streets. In Leipzig and other cities they peacefully demanded free elections and freedom to travel at the Monday demonstrations. The protests stayed free of violence — which is why it is called the Peaceful Revolution. On the evening of 9 November 1989 the GDR opened its border crossings and the Wall fell. However, 9 November is not a public holiday: the pogroms of 1938 fall on that date as well. That is why 3 October was chosen as the national holiday. The test likes to ask about this distinction.
Source: www.bundesregierung.de
Reunification on 3 October 1990
In March 1990 the first and only free elections were held in the GDR. The two German states and the four victorious powers then negotiated the Two Plus Four Treaty, which restored full sovereignty to Germany. On 3 October 1990 the five re-established eastern Länder joined the Federal Republic; Germany was one state again, with Berlin as its capital. Since then 3 October has been the Day of German Unity and the only public holiday laid down by federal law. Since 1990 the Basic Law has applied to the whole of Germany — exactly what it was left open for in 1949.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
Questions from this area
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- Question 1 of 71Catalogue 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 2 of 71Catalogue question 156
In what year did Hitler become Reich Chancellor?
- A — 1923 was the year of the failed Hitler-Ludendorff putsch in Munich, not the seizure of power.
- B — 1927 does not mark a key historical date for Hitler's appointment.
- C — Correct: on 30 January 1933, Reich President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor.
- D — 1936 was already well into Nazi rule (including the Olympic Games in Berlin), not its beginning.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 3 of 71Catalogue question 208
What was the "Stasi"?
- A — The Nazi secret service and political police were called the Gestapo and SD, not Stasi — the Stasi was only established in 1950 in East Germany.
- B — The Stasi was not a memorial site but an active surveillance authority.
- C — Correct: the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) was East Germany's secret service and political secret police.
- D — The Stasi was not a sports club but a state security and surveillance authority.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 4 of 71Catalogue question 197
Which of today's German federal states was formerly part of East Germany?
- A — Correct: Thuringia was one of the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- B — Hesse lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- C — Bavaria lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- D — Bremen was a Western city-state enclave in the British/American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 5 of 71Catalogue question 168
Which country was not an "Allied occupying power" in Germany?
- A — The USA was one of the four occupying powers with its own zone in Germany.
- B — The Soviet Union was one of the four occupying powers with its own zone in Germany.
- C — France was one of the four occupying powers with its own zone in Germany.
- D — Correct: Japan was Germany's ally in the war (an Axis power) and was itself defeated and occupied — not an occupying power in Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 6 of 71Catalogue question 211
Which politician is associated with the "Ostverträge" (Eastern Treaties)?
- A — Helmut Kohl is above all associated with German reunification in 1990, not with the Eastern Treaties of the early 1970s.
- B — Correct: with his "Ostpolitik", Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt initiated the Eastern Treaties (including with the Soviet Union and Poland, 1970), which led to détente with the Eastern Bloc.
- C — Mikhail Gorbachev was the Soviet head of state and party who shaped the reform policies of glasnost and perestroika, not a German politician of the Eastern Treaties.
- D — Ludwig Erhard was known for the social market economy and the economic miracle, not for the Eastern Treaties.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 7 of 71Catalogue 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
- Question 8 of 71Catalogue question 96
How can someone who denies the Holocaust be punished?
- A — Reducing social benefits is not a criminal sanction for Holocaust denial.
- B — 100 hours of community service is not a penalty provided for this offence under German criminal law.
- C — Incorrect: Holocaust denial is a criminal offence in Germany, not permitted.
- D — Correct: under § 130(3) of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred), denying or trivialising the Holocaust is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 9 of 71Catalogue question 196
Why is the period in autumn 1989 in East Germany called "the turning point" (Die Wende)? During this time, East Germany changed politically …
- A — Correct: "die Wende" refers to East Germany's peaceful transition from the SED one-party dictatorship to democratic, pluralistic conditions in autumn 1989.
- B — East Germany did not previously have a liberal market economy but a socialist planned economy — the turning point led in the opposite direction, toward a market economy.
- C — East Germany was never a monarchy; it was a socialist one-party state that transformed into a democracy.
- D — East Germany was not a religious state but already a communist/socialist-shaped state — the turning point led away from communism, not toward it.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 10 of 71Catalogue question 195
Which of today's German federal states was formerly part of East Germany?
- A — Hesse lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- B — Correct: Saxony-Anhalt was one of the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- C — North Rhine-Westphalia lay in the British zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- D — The Saarland joined the Federal Republic in 1957 — never part of East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 11 of 71Catalogue question 219
The Federal Republic of Germany has had today's borders since …
- A — 1933 was the Nazi seizure of power, long before today's borders were drawn.
- B — 1949 was the founding of the Federal Republic, but without today's eastern states — the border was still different.
- C — 1971 does not mark a key date for today's borders.
- D — Correct: only with reunification in 1990 and the accession of the five new states did Germany acquire its present-day national borders.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 12 of 71Catalogue question 159
What did not exist in Germany during the Nazi era?
- A — Correct: after 1933, all competing parties were banned and elections were reduced to mere acclamation events without real choice — free elections no longer existed.
- B — Press censorship was comprehensive and systematic, controlled by the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
- C — Arbitrary arrests without rule-of-law oversight, for example by the Gestapo, were widespread.
- D — The systematic persecution and extermination of European Jews in the Holocaust was a central feature of the Nazi regime.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 13 of 71Catalogue question 206
What do the so-called "Stolpersteine" (stumbling stones) in Germany commemorate?
- A — Stolpersteine do not commemorate politicians but individual victims of Nazi persecution.
- B — Correct: Stolpersteine are small brass plaques set in front of the last freely chosen residence, commemorating individual victims of National Socialism — Jews, Sinti and Roma, the politically persecuted and other groups.
- C — Stolpersteine have nothing to do with road accident victims; the project is dedicated to the culture of remembrance of the Nazi era.
- D — Stolpersteine do not commemorate musicians specifically, but very different people from all sections of the population who were persecuted by the Nazi regime.
Source: www.stolpersteine.eu
- Question 14 of 71Catalogue question 288
What is the basis of Germany's special responsibility for Israel?
- A — EU membership does not establish a special historical responsibility toward Israel; it concerns other policy areas.
- B — Correct: Germany's special responsibility toward Israel is grounded in the Holocaust — the Nazi crimes against European Jews — and is recognised as part of Germany's raison d'état.
- C — The Basic Law contains no explicit clause on Israel; the special responsibility is historically and politically grounded, not anchored as such in constitutional law.
- D — The Christian tradition is not the basis of the special historical-political responsibility; this is expressly linked to the Nazi past.
Source: www.bundesregierung.de
- Question 15 of 71Catalogue question 184
On what legal basis was the State of Israel founded?
- A — Correct: on 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the partition plan for Palestine with Resolution 181, on the basis of which the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948.
- B — The Zionist Congress (first held in 1897) formulated the political programme of Zionism but had no international-law authority to found a state.
- C — The Federal Republic of Germany did not yet exist in 1947/48 (only founded in 1949) and had no influence on the founding of the State of Israel.
- D — The USSR voted in favour of the UN resolution but did not make an independent founding proposal.
Source: www.un.org
- Question 16 of 71Catalogue question 190
What does the abbreviation GDR (DDR) stand for?
- A — "Third German Broadcasting" is not the correct expansion of the abbreviation DDR.
- B — "The German Republic" is not the official name of the East German state.
- C — "Third German Republic" is not a correct expansion; there was no such numbering.
- D — Correct: DDR stands for Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic), the official name of the East German state from 1949 to 1990.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 17 of 71Catalogue question 152
When were the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler in power in Germany?
- A — 1918 to 1923 was the early Weimar Republic; the Nazi party existed but was not in power.
- B — 1932 to 1950 is incorrectly dated — Hitler's seizure of power was in 1933, and the Nazi regime ended in 1945.
- C — Correct: Hitler became Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933; the Nazi regime ended with the surrender on 8 May 1945.
- D — 1945 to 1989 describes the post-war period and the division of Germany, not Nazi rule.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 18 of 71Catalogue question 228
What is East Germany's accession to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 generally called?
- A — NATO's eastward enlargement refers to the later accession of Eastern European states to NATO from the 1990s/2000s onward, not East Germany's accession to the Federal Republic.
- B — The EU's eastward enlargement (mainly 2004) refers to the accession of Central and Eastern European states to the EU, a different historical event.
- C — Correct: East Germany's accession to the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990 is called "German Reunification".
- D — "European Community" was the predecessor organisation of the EU, not a term for German reunification.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 19 of 71Catalogue question 189
When did East Germany build the Berlin Wall?
- A — 1919 was the year of the Weimar Constitution, long before East Germany was founded.
- B — 1933 was Hitler's seizure of power, likewise long before East Germany was founded in 1949.
- C — Correct: the East German leadership had the wall built in 1961.
- D — 1990 was the year of reunification, not the building of the wall — by that time the wall had already fallen (1989).
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 20 of 71Catalogue question 202
Which side did East Germany belong to in the "Cold War"?
- A — East Germany did not belong to the Western powers but to the Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc.
- B — Correct: East Germany was a founding member of the Warsaw Pact (1955), the Eastern military alliance led by the Soviet Union.
- C — NATO was the Western military alliance that West Germany (not East Germany) joined in 1955.
- D — East Germany was clearly anchored in the Eastern Bloc, not non-aligned.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 21 of 71Catalogue 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 22 of 71Catalogue question 210
What happened in East Germany on 17 June 1953?
- A — East Germany only joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955, not on 17 June 1953.
- B — Correct: on 17 June 1953, nationwide strikes and a popular uprising against increased work quotas and for political reforms broke out in East Germany, which Soviet tanks violently suppressed.
- C — The first SED party congress already took place in 1946, years before 17 June 1953.
- D — Fidel Castro only visited East Germany in the 1970s, long after 1953.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 23 of 71Catalogue question 193
From 1961 to 1989, Berlin was …
- A — Both East and West Berlin had their own mayors during this period, with a Governing Mayor in the western part.
- B — Berlin was not an independent state but an occupied, divided city under Allied Four-Power status.
- C — Correct: from August 1961 to November 1989, the Berlin Wall separated the eastern from the western part of the city.
- D — Only during the 1948/49 blockade was West Berlin exclusively reachable via the airlift — not continuously throughout the entire period of the wall until 1989, when regular transit routes existed.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 24 of 71Catalogue question 215
Who is referred to as the "Chancellor of German Unity"?
- A — Gerhard Schröder was Federal Chancellor from 1998 to 2005, after reunification, but not its central political actor.
- B — Correct: Helmut Kohl (Federal Chancellor 1982–1998) decisively drove German reunification in 1990 and is therefore referred to as the "Chancellor of Unity".
- C — Konrad Adenauer was the first Federal Chancellor (1949–1963), long before reunification.
- D — Helmut Schmidt was Federal Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, also before reunification.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 25 of 71Catalogue question 59
How many years ago did the first Jewish community exist on the territory of present-day Germany?
- A — 300 years is far too few — Jewish life in Germany is documented as considerably older.
- B — 700 years considerably underestimates the age of the first documented Jewish community.
- C — 1150 years likewise underestimates the oldest document.
- D — Correct: Emperor Constantine's edict of 11 December 321 CE, addressed to the city council of Cologne, is the oldest written evidence of Jewish life on the territory of present-day Germany — the occasion for the 2021 theme year '1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany'.
Source: www.2021jlid.de
- Question 26 of 71Catalogue question 151
Who built the Berlin Wall?
- A — Great Britain was a Western occupying power but had no part in building the wall.
- B — Correct: the East German (GDR) leadership had the Berlin Wall built during the night of 12–13 August 1961 to stop its citizens fleeing to the West.
- C — The Federal Republic of Germany (the West) was the destination of the flight movement, not the builder of the wall.
- D — The USA was a Western occupying power but was not involved in building the wall.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 27 of 71Catalogue question 158
The "Third Reich" was a …
- A — Correct: the Nazi propaganda term "Third Reich" referred to the totalitarian one-party state under Hitler.
- B — Elections and parties were abolished; the opposite of a democracy.
- C — There was no hereditary monarch; rule was based on the "Führer principle", not dynastic succession.
- D — A council republic is a councils-based democratic system, such as briefly existed in Munich in 1918/19 — the exact opposite of the Nazi dictatorship.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 28 of 71Catalogue question 186
In 1953 there was an uprising in East Germany, which was long commemorated by a public holiday in West Germany. When was that?
- A — 1 May is Labour Day, not a commemoration of the 1953 East German uprising.
- B — Correct: on 17 June 1953, the East German leadership, with Soviet support, suppressed a popular uprising against increased work quotas and for political freedom; West Germany observed this day until 1990 as "Day of German Unity".
- C — 20 July commemorates the Stauffenberg assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944, not the East German uprising.
- D — 9 November is a historically significant date (the 1938 November Pogroms, the fall of the Wall in 1989), but not the day of the 1953 East German uprising.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 29 of 71Catalogue question 166
At which demonstrations in Germany did people chant "We are the people"?
- A — At the 1953 uprising in East Germany, social and economic demands were at the forefront; the slogan "We are the people" was not coined at that time.
- B — The 1968 student protests in the Federal Republic were directed against social and political grievances in the West, not against the East German leadership.
- C — The 1985 anti-nuclear-power protests had different thematic priorities and took place in the West.
- D — Correct: at the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig and other East German cities in autumn 1989, people chanted "We are the people" — a central slogan of the peaceful revolution against the SED regime.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 30 of 71Catalogue question 194
On 3 October, Germany celebrates the Day of German …
- A — Correct: 3 October is the "Day of German Unity", Germany's national holiday commemorating East Germany's accession to the Federal Republic in 1990.
- B — "Day of the German Nation" is not the official name of the holiday.
- C — There is no official "Day of the Federal States" on 3 October.
- D — There is no official "Day of the Cities" on 3 October.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 31 of 71Catalogue question 66
Which cities have the largest Jewish communities in Germany?
- A — Correct: the Jewish Community of Berlin is the largest by membership in Germany, followed by the Israelite Community of Munich.
- B — Hamburg and Essen have historically significant but considerably smaller Jewish communities than Berlin and Munich.
- C — Nuremberg and Stuttgart have Jewish communities but are not the largest by membership in Germany.
- D — Worms and Speyer (part of the medieval "SchUM" league of cities together with Mainz, a UNESCO World Heritage site) are historically significant but not among today's largest communities by membership.
Source: www.zentralratderjuden.de
- Question 32 of 71Catalogue question 149
What is an example of antisemitic behaviour?
- A — Attending a Jewish festival is cultural participation, not antisemitic behaviour.
- B — Factual criticism of a government's policy — including Israel's — is covered by freedom of expression and is not inherently antisemitic.
- C — Correct: denying the Holocaust is a recognised form of antisemitism, because it disputes or trivialises the historically documented crime against humanity committed against European Jews, and is furthermore a criminal offence in Germany (§ 130(3) Criminal Code).
- D — A sporting match against a Jewish team is a normal sporting encounter, not antisemitic behaviour.
Source: www.gesetze-im-internet.de
- Question 33 of 71Catalogue question 154
When did the Second World War end?
- A — 1933 was Hitler's seizure of power, not the end of the war.
- B — Correct: with the unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe.
- C — 1949 was the founding of West Germany and East Germany, four years after the war ended.
- D — 1961 was the building of the Berlin Wall, sixteen years after the war ended.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 34 of 71Catalogue question 207
Which military alliance was East Germany a member of?
- A — NATO was the Western alliance that West Germany (not East Germany) joined.
- B — The Confederation of the Rhine was a historical Napoleonic alliance of states from 1806, long since dissolved before the East German era.
- C — Correct: East Germany was a founding member of the Warsaw Pact (1955), the Eastern military alliance under Soviet leadership.
- D — A "European Alliance" in this sense did not exist as a real military alliance.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 35 of 71Catalogue 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 36 of 71Catalogue question 153
What happened on 8 May 1945?
- A — Hitler had already died by suicide on 30 April 1945, eight days before the surrender.
- B — The building of the wall only began in 1961, sixteen years later.
- C — Adenauer was only elected the first Federal Chancellor in 1949, four years later.
- D — Correct: on 8 May 1945, the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht took effect, ending the Second World War in Europe.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 37 of 71Catalogue question 203
What was East Germany's economic system called?
- A — A market economy is based on free competition — the opposite model to the East German economy.
- B — Correct: East Germany operated a centrally directed socialist planned economy, in which the state determined production and prices.
- C — "Supply and demand" describes market mechanisms, which precisely did not determine prices in East Germany's planned economy.
- D — Capitalism describes a market economic order with private ownership of the means of production — the opposite of East Germany's system.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 38 of 71Catalogue question 172
In which occupation zone was East Germany founded? In the …
- A — The American zone, together with the British and French zones, later formed West Germany, not East Germany.
- B — The French zone was one of the Western zones from which West Germany emerged.
- C — The British zone was likewise one of the Western zones from which West Germany emerged.
- D — Correct: East Germany was founded on 7 October 1949 on the territory of the Soviet occupation zone.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 39 of 71Catalogue question 164
What happened in Germany on 9 November 1938?
- A — The attack on Poland, and thus the start of the war, was on 1 September 1939, not 9 November 1938.
- B — The Nazi party did not lose an election in 1938 — there were no longer any free elections at that time.
- C — Correct: during the night of 9–10 November 1938, the November Pogroms organised by the National Socialists took place, in which synagogues and Jewish shops were destroyed throughout Germany.
- D — Hitler never became Reich President; he never held that office, and Hindenburg only died in 1934, after which Hitler merged the offices of Reich Chancellor and Reich President into "Führer" — not on 9 November 1938.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 40 of 71Catalogue question 199
In East Germany, the abbreviation "Stasi" referred to …
- A — East Germany's parliament was called the Volkskammer, not "Stasi".
- B — Correct: "Stasi" was the short form for the Ministry for State Security, East Germany's feared secret service and domestic surveillance authority.
- C — East Germany's governing party was the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany), not the Stasi.
- D — The Ministry for People's Education was responsible for the school system, not the same as the Stasi.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 41 of 71Catalogue question 220
27 January is an official day of remembrance in Germany. What does this day commemorate?
- A — The end of the war in Europe is commemorated on 8 May, not 27 January.
- B — The Basic Law came into force on 23 May 1949, not 27 January.
- C — Reunification is celebrated on 3 October, not 27 January.
- D — Correct: since 1996, 27 January has been the official "Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism", chosen to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in 1945.
Source: www.bundespraesident.de
- Question 42 of 71Catalogue question 176Image question
How were Germany's occupation zones distributed after 1945?
- A — This assignment is only correct if it exactly matches the map as drawn — the geographically correct positions must be checked against the actual map (Great Britain northwest, USA south, France southwest, Soviet Union east).
- B — This assignment is only correct if it exactly matches the map as drawn — the geographically correct positions must be checked against the actual map.
- C — This assignment is only correct if it exactly matches the map as drawn — the geographically correct positions must be checked against the actual map.
- D — This assignment is only correct if it exactly matches the map as drawn — the geographically correct positions must be checked against the actual map.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 43 of 71Catalogue question 192
Which of today's German federal states was formerly part of East Germany?
- A — Correct: Brandenburg was one of the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- B — Bavaria lay throughout in the American occupation zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- C — The Saarland belonged to the French zone or was for a time a separate territory, and joined the Federal Republic in 1957 — never part of East Germany.
- D — Hesse lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 44 of 71Catalogue question 179
How did the Second World War officially end in Europe?
- A — Hitler's death on 30 April 1945 was an event before the war ended, but not the official end of the war itself — the war continued for another eight days afterwards.
- B — Correct: the war officially ended in Europe through the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht on 8/9 May 1945.
- C — A mere withdrawal without formal surrender did not take place; the surrender was the official, internationally significant act.
- D — There was no revolution that ended the war; the war ended through military defeat and surrender.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 45 of 71Catalogue question 185
What did the term "Iron Curtain" refer to? The sealing off of …
- A — Correct: "Iron Curtain" referred to the political, military and ideological boundary between the Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc (Warsaw Pact) and the West during the Cold War.
- B — The term referred to the East-West division of Europe, not to a north-south division of Germany.
- C — The term was coined only after the Second World War for the East-West division, not for the Nazi era against the Allies.
- D — The term described the separation between Eastern and Western Europe, not specifically between Europe and the USA (which belonged to the West).
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 46 of 71Catalogue question 174
When was East Germany founded?
- A — 1947 is two years before the actual founding.
- B — Correct: East Germany was founded on 7 October 1949, a few months after West Germany.
- C — 1953 was the year of the popular uprising in East Germany, not its founding.
- D — 1956 is seven years after the actual founding.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 47 of 71Catalogue question 175
How many occupation zones were there in Germany after the Second World War?
- A — 3 is too few; there was a fourth occupying power.
- B — Correct: after the surrender in 1945, the USA, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France divided Germany into four occupation zones.
- C — 5 is too many; there were only four occupying powers.
- D — 6 is too many; there were only four occupying powers.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 48 of 71Catalogue question 169
When was the Federal Republic of Germany founded?
- A — 1939 was the beginning of the Second World War, not the founding of the Federal Republic.
- B — 1945 was the end of the war, but the Federal Republic was only established four years later.
- C — Correct: the Federal Republic of Germany was founded on 23 May 1949, when the Basic Law came into force.
- D — 1951 is two years after the actual founding.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 49 of 71Catalogue question 191
When was the Berlin Wall opened for everyone?
- A — 1987 is two years before the wall actually fell.
- B — Correct: the border opened on 9 November 1989, triggered by an improvised press conference and the subsequent rush of the population.
- C — 1992 is three years after the wall actually fell.
- D — 1995 is six years after the wall actually fell.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 50 of 71Catalogue question 160
Which war lasted from 1939 to 1945?
- A — The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918, not 1939 to 1945.
- B — Correct: the Second World War began on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and ended on 8 May 1945 in Europe.
- C — The Vietnam War took place from the 1950s to the 1970s, not 1939 to 1945.
- D — The Gulf War took place in 1990/91, many decades later.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 51 of 71Catalogue question 298
Migrants living in East Germany came mainly from …
- A — Correct: East Germany recruited so-called "contract workers" mainly from socialist fraternal states such as Vietnam, Poland and Mozambique.
- B — France, Romania and Somalia were not the main countries of origin of East German contract workers.
- C — Chile, Hungary and Zimbabwe had some political connections (e.g. Chilean exiles after the Pinochet coup), but were not the main groups of contract workers.
- D — North Korea, Mexico and Egypt were not the central countries of origin for East German labour migration.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 52 of 71Catalogue question 155
When were the National Socialists in power in Germany?
- A — 1888 to 1918 was the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire, long before the Nazi era.
- B — 1921 to 1934 is not correct: the Nazi party already existed but only came to power in 1933.
- C — Correct: Nazi rule lasted from Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor in 1933 to the unconditional surrender in 1945.
- D — 1949 to 1963 falls within the early Federal Republic under Adenauer, after the end of the Nazi regime.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 53 of 71Catalogue question 167
Which countries were referred to as the "Allied occupying powers" in Germany after the Second World War?
- A — Poland and Sweden were not occupying powers with their own zone in Germany.
- B — Italy and Japan were Germany's allies in the war (Axis powers), not occupying powers.
- C — Spain and Portugal were neutral in the Second World War and were not occupying powers in Germany.
- D — Correct: the USA, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France divided Germany into four occupation zones after 1945.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 54 of 71Catalogue question 165
What was the name of the first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany?
- A — Correct: Konrad Adenauer (CDU) was elected the first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 and remained in office until 1963.
- B — Kiesinger was the third Federal Chancellor (1966–1969), head of the first grand coalition.
- C — Helmut Schmidt was the fifth Federal Chancellor (1974–1982).
- D — Willy Brandt was the fourth Federal Chancellor (1969–1974), known for his Ostpolitik.
Source: www.bundeskanzler.de
- Question 55 of 71Catalogue question 188
In what year was the Berlin Wall built?
- A — 1953 was the year of the East German popular uprising, eight years before the wall was built.
- B — 1956 does not mark a key historical date for the building of the wall.
- C — 1959 is two years before the wall was actually built.
- D — Correct: the Berlin Wall was built during the night of 12–13 August 1961.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 56 of 71Catalogue 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 57 of 71Catalogue 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 58 of 71Catalogue question 118
Who may become a member of the roughly 40 Jewish Maccabi sports clubs?
- A — The Maccabi clubs are not restricted to German nationals.
- B — The Maccabi clubs are not restricted to Israeli nationals.
- C — Membership does not require any particular degree of religious observance.
- D — Correct: the Maccabi sports clubs, originally founded as a Jewish sports movement, are today generally open to anyone interested, regardless of background or religion.
Source: www.makkabi.de
- Question 59 of 71Catalogue 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 60 of 71Catalogue question 180
The first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany was …
- A — Ludwig Erhard was the second Federal Chancellor (1963–1966), known as the "father of the economic miracle".
- B — Willy Brandt was the fourth Federal Chancellor (1969–1974).
- C — Correct: Konrad Adenauer was the first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic from 1949 to 1963.
- D — Gerhard Schröder was Federal Chancellor from 1998 to 2005, much later.
Source: www.bundeskanzler.de
- Question 61 of 71Catalogue question 200
Which of today's German federal states was formerly part of East Germany?
- A — Hesse lay in the American zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- B — Schleswig-Holstein lay in the British zone and belonged to old West Germany, not East Germany.
- C — Correct: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was one of the five "new states" that joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- D — The Saarland joined the Federal Republic in 1957 — never part of East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 62 of 71Catalogue question 177
Which German city was divided into four sectors after the Second World War?
- A — Munich lay entirely within the American occupation zone and was not divided into sectors.
- B — Correct: although Berlin lay in the middle of the Soviet zone, due to its status as the capital it was itself divided into four sectors (US, UK, France, USSR).
- C — Dresden lay in the Soviet occupation zone and was not divided into four sectors.
- D — Frankfurt an der Oder lay in the Soviet zone and was not divided into four sectors.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 63 of 71Catalogue question 218
How many federal states were added to the Federal Republic of Germany at reunification in 1990?
- A — 4 is too few; there were five new states.
- B — Correct: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia — five "new states" — joined the Federal Republic in 1990.
- C — 6 is too many; there were five new states.
- D — 7 is too many; there were five new states.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 64 of 71Catalogue 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 65 of 71Catalogue 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 66 of 71Catalogue question 163
In what year did the National Socialists destroy synagogues and Jewish shops in Germany?
- A — 1925 is long before Hitler's seizure of power and the November pogroms.
- B — 1930 is before the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.
- C — Correct: during the night of 9–10 November 1938 (the November Pogroms, "Kristallnacht"), Nazi supporters systematically destroyed synagogues and Jewish shops.
- D — 1945 was the end of the war, not the time of the November Pogroms.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 67 of 71Catalogue question 209Image question
Which one was the coat of arms of the German Democratic Republic?
- A — Only one of the four pictures shows the East German emblem with hammer, compass and wreath of grain; the assignment depends on the actual image shown.
- B — Only one of the four pictures shows the East German emblem with hammer, compass and wreath of grain; the assignment depends on the actual image shown.
- C — Only one of the four pictures shows the East German emblem with hammer, compass and wreath of grain; the assignment depends on the actual image shown.
- D — Only one of the four pictures shows the East German emblem with hammer, compass and wreath of grain; the assignment depends on the actual image shown.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 68 of 71Catalogue question 183
When was the "economic miracle" in the Federal Republic of Germany?
- A — The 1940s were marked by war and ruins, not the economic miracle.
- B — Correct: the "economic miracle" refers to the rapid economic recovery of West Germany in the 1950s following the 1948 currency reform.
- C — The 1970s were marked by oil crises and economic difficulties, not the economic miracle.
- D — The 1980s are well after the classic economic-miracle era.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 69 of 71Catalogue question 204
How did the Federal Republic of Germany and East Germany become one state?
- A — No military occupation took place; the process was a voluntary, legally regulated accession.
- B — Correct: under the former Art. 23 of the Basic Law, the five new states joined the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 (the accession principle, not a new joint state).
- C — The opposite is the case: the eastern states joined the Federal Republic, not the other way around.
- D — There was no military occupation of West Germany by East Germany.
Source: www.bpb.de
- Question 70 of 71Catalogue 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 71 of 71Catalogue question 157
In 1933, the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler established … in Germany.
- A — Correct: after seizing power, the National Socialists established, through the Enabling Act and forced coordination (Gleichschaltung), a totalitarian dictatorship without separation of powers or basic rights.
- B — The opposite is true: parties were banned, elections abolished, and the democracy of the Weimar Republic destroyed.
- C — There was no hereditary head of state; Nazi rule was not a monarchy.
- D — A principality is ruled by a prince; the Nazi regime was a totalitarian Führer state, not a principality.
Source: www.bpb.de
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