Spotlight - 11.2019

“Nein,” said the lady, who I could now

see was distressed. “I’ve had some bad

news. You’ll have come back another day.”

“Das tut mir leid,” I said, wondering what

on earth she was still doing at work.

Not one to give up that quickly, I left

the sad lady alone and went down the cor-

ridor to the secretary’s office. I knocked

gently and opened the

door. “We’re shut,” said a

secretary, as I was about

to enter the room. I ex-

plained my desperation,

and after some hesitation,

the lady I had spoken to

the first time I visited the

school agreed to register

me. She didn’t smile.

Sometimes, it seems

public officials in Germa-

ny inhabit a parallel uni-

verse. Dealing with the

authorities is rarely straightforward, but

this time, the experience had me wonder-

ing whether I really wanted to continue

my mission to become a German.

The test

Thanks to the internet — open all hours,

accessible anywhere — it’s easy to find

out what the German citizenship test is.

It has 33 multiple-choice questions, you

have an hour to answer them and you

need only 17 correct answers to pass. The

questions are chosen from a catalogue of

310 questions, 10 of which vary depend-

ing on the state you live in. The questions

and answers are online, so practising for

the test is easy and convenient.

I learned a lot while I was practising

for the test: about the German political

system, about the constitution, German

society and history. I learned, for exam-

ple, that Germany’s national anthem was

written by August Heinrich Hoffmann

von Fallersleben.

I realized while I was practising for

the test that I might be able to remember

the answers to a lot of the questions for a

couple of days, but certainly not forever.

Luckily, being able to remember the infor-

mation for a long time was not a require-

ment for passing the test.

The questions range from leicht to sehr

schwer. An easy question might be about

German Christmas traditions, for exam-

ple, but it could also be what seems like a

trick question for applicants from certain

cultures — such as this one: “Which cou-

ple is not permitted to live together in

Germany?”

• Hans (20) and Marie (19)


• Tom (20) and Klaus (45)


• Sofie (35) and Lisa (40)


• Anne (13) and Tim (25)
  Here’s an example of a very difficult
  question: “The German
  federal president Gus-
  tav Heinemann awarded
  Helmut Schmidt the cer-
  tificate of appointment
  as German federal chan-
  cellor in 1974. What are
  the tasks of the German
  federal president?”
  
  
  • He/she is in charge of
    government affairs.
  
  
  • He/she controls the
    governing party.
  
  
  • He/she selects the
    ministers.
  
  
  
  


• He/she proposes the chancellor for
  election.
  I’ll give you a clue: in each example, the
  last answer is correct.
  When I told my German friends about
  the type of questions that I would have
  to answer, they were surprised and some
  weren’t sure they would pass the test.
  It’s not that hard, though, and it’s usually
  possible to find the right answer through
  a process of elimination. But you certain-
  ly need a good level of German to under-
  stand the question in the first place.
  Finally, the day of the test arrived.
  I knew I was well prepared and I managed
  to finish the test in about 10 minutes.
  Then I waited for a couple of months to
  receive my results: I had passed! I was one
  step closer to becoming a German.

Mission accomplished

On my final visit to the Landratsamt in

the application process, I handed in all

my documents and the friendly official

informed me that the application would

cost €225. “Let’s see if we can get you your

citizenship before the end of the year,” he

said. “That would be a good Christmas

present, wouldn’t it?”

I would be a Kraut by Christmas.

I told my husband the good news.

“€225? Try Krautfunding!” he joked.

It’s funny (and also rude, of course) that

the British call the French “frogs” and the

Germans “Krauts”. I don’t think other

anthem [(ÄnTEm]

, Hymne

certificate of appoint-

ment [sE(tIfIkeIt Ev

E(pOIntmEnt]

, Ernennungsurkunde

desperation

[)despE(reIS&n]

, Verzweiflung

distressed [dI(strest]

, verzweifelt, be­

kümmert

hesitation

[)hezI(teIS&n]

, Zögern

inhabit [In(hÄbIt]

, bewohnen, bevölkern

pass [pA:s]

, bestehen

rude [ru:d]

, unhöflich, grob

trick question

[(trIk )kwestSEn]

, Fangfrage

“Did

I really

want to

become a

German?”

66 Spotlight 11/2019 CULTURE