The Bundesland questions on the German citizenship test
Vishwen Labs
Three of the 33 questions in every Einbürgerungstest are about a Bundesland: the one where the candidate has their Erstwohnsitz, their registered main residence. BAMF publishes 10 questions for each of the 16 Länder, so those three come from a pool of ten you can know completely. They ask about the Land's coat of arms, its capital, the name of its parliament, the title of its head of government, its neighbours and its colours. The app holds all 160 and asks the ten for the Land you set.
How the three are chosen
BAMF's page says that three questions are asked about the Bundesland in which you are registered with your Erstwohnsitz. The Prüfstelle issues Testhefte for its Land, so as a rule you sit the test where you live and get that Land's questions. Every Testheft has exactly three of them, drawn from the Land's ten, alongside 30 general questions, and the Einbürgerungstestverordnung fixes the split. There is no separate pass mark for them; they count like any other question towards the 17.
What the ten questions ask
The ten follow the same pattern in every Land: which coat of arms belongs to the Land, shown as four images; which city is its capital; what its parliament is called, a Landtag in most Länder, a Bürgerschaft in Hamburg and Bremen, the Abgeordnetenhaus in Berlin; what the head of government is called, a Ministerpräsident or Ministerpräsidentin in most, a Regierender Bürgermeister in Berlin, an Erster Bürgermeister in Hamburg, a Präsident des Senats in Bremen; which Länder border it; what its colours are; and a question or two on its geography or a notable fact. The Niedersachsen question in the app's mock, which of four marked states is Lower Saxony, is a typical one.
The 16 Länder and their capitals
Worth knowing whatever your Land, because the general questions ask about the federal structure too:
- Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart · Bayern, München · Berlin · Brandenburg, Potsdam.
- Bremen · Hamburg · Hessen, Wiesbaden · Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin.
- Niedersachsen, Hannover · Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf · Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz · Saarland, Saarbrücken.
- Sachsen, Dresden · Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg · Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel · Thüringen, Erfurt.
Why they are the easiest points on the sheet
Only ten questions exist for your Land, and you can read all ten with their answers before the test. Three of them will appear. That makes them the one part of the Testheft you can know completely rather than probably, and three sure points out of the 17 you need is worth an hour. Candidates who skip them because they seem local trivia give away the cheapest marks on the paper.
Setting your Land in the app
The Bundesland is a setting: choose the Land where you are registered, and the mock draws its three Land questions from that Land's ten, the chapter Mein Bundesland shows them, and the lessons include one for each Land. If you move before your test date, change the setting. The other 150 Land questions are there for the curious, and for anyone who wants to know why Bremen's parliament is a Bürgerschaft.
Einbürgerungstest bestehen is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) or any other German authority. The test questions are BAMF's published Gesamtfragenkatalog, which anyone may practise free at BAMF's Online-Testcenter; the app's lessons, explanations and translations are its own.
Questions people also ask
Which Bundesland's questions do I get if I moved recently?
As a rule the Land of your Erstwohnsitz, your registered main residence, at the time of the test, because the Prüfstelle issues the Testheft for its Land. If you have just moved, register at a Prüfstelle in the Land where you are now registered and learn its ten questions.
How many Bundesland questions are there in total?
160: ten for each of the 16 Länder, published by BAMF alongside the 300 general questions. A candidate only ever faces the ten for their own Land, three of which appear in the Testheft.
