Free Einbürgerungstest Practice Questions: How to Use the Official 310-Question Catalogue in 2026

Almost everyone starting to prepare for the Einbürgerungstest asks the same thing first: do I have to pay for practice questions? No. The complete question pool is published by the German state, it is free, and every single question you will face on exam day is taken from it. Nothing is secret and nothing is hidden behind a paywall — the only thing that separates a pass from a fail is how systematically you work through the catalogue.

What the official catalogue actually contains

The catalogue has two parts:

• 300 general questions about the constitution, the political system, history, and everyday life in Germany. These are identical everywhere in Germany.
• 10 state-specific questions (Landesfragen) for each of the 16 federal states. You only ever get the set for the state where you register for the exam.

So the pool you personally need to know is 310 questions — not "thousands". Anyone selling you a bigger number is padding the list.

On exam day you receive 33 questions: 30 from the general pool and 3 from your state's set. You have 60 minutes, every question is multiple choice with exactly one correct answer out of four, and there is no penalty for guessing. You pass with 17 correct answers. That is roughly 52 percent — a genuinely forgiving threshold, which is why candidates who actually finish the catalogue almost always pass.

Where to get the questions for free

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) publishes the full catalogue as a free PDF and also runs a free online demo test. Both are official, both cost nothing, and both are updated when questions change. Searching for "Einbürgerungstest Fragenkatalog PDF" will get you there.

The PDF has one real drawback: it is a static document. It cannot tell you which questions you keep getting wrong, and it will happily let you re-read the 200 questions you already know while ignoring the 40 that are actually costing you points. That is why most people use the PDF as a reference and do their repetitions in an interactive trainer — our free online practice mode tracks your weak questions, and the full question catalogue lets you browse every item at your own pace.

A realistic free study plan

You do not need months. A workable schedule looks like this:

1. Week 1 — first pass. Go through 45–50 questions a day without worrying about your score. The point is simply to see everything once.
2. Week 2 — second pass, marking mistakes. Repeat the same blocks. Every question you get wrong goes onto a separate list. Most people end up with 40–70 marked questions.
3. Week 3 — only your mistakes. Drill the marked list until you answer each one correctly twice in a row. This is where the real progress happens.
4. Week 4 — full mock exams. Take complete 33-question simulations under time pressure. Once you are consistently scoring 28 or higher, you are comfortably safe.

Do not skip the state questions. They are only 3 of 33, but they are the easiest free points in the whole exam — ten items about your state's coat of arms, capital city and parliament.

Language is not the obstacle people expect

The exam is only available in German. There is no translated version and no dictionary is allowed. But the German used is deliberately simple, close to B1 level, and the same phrasing repeats across the whole catalogue. Learn roughly forty recurring words — Grundgesetz, Wahl, Bundestag, Recht, Meinungsfreiheit, Bundesland — and the questions become readable even if your everyday German is shaky. For the full picture of the process, fees and exemptions, see our complete Einbürgerungstest guide in English.

Four sample questions from the catalogue

1. Wie heißt die deutsche Verfassung? A) Volksgesetz B) Bundesgesetz C) Grundgesetz D) Deutschlandgesetz

Answer: C — Grundgesetz. In force since 23 May 1949; its very first article protects human dignity.

2. Wie viele Bundesländer hat die Bundesrepublik Deutschland? A) 14 B) 15 C) 16 D) 17

Answer: C — 16. Three of them (Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen) are city-states.

3. Wer wählt den Bundeskanzler / die Bundeskanzlerin in Deutschland? A) das Volk B) der Bundestag C) der Bundesrat D) der Bundespräsident

Answer: B — der Bundestag. Citizens vote for the parliament; the parliament then elects the chancellor.

4. Was ist in Deutschland ein Grundrecht? A) Waffenbesitz B) Meinungsfreiheit C) Faustrecht D) Selbstjustiz

Answer: B — Meinungsfreiheit. Freedom of expression is guaranteed by Article 5 of the Grundgesetz, though it ends where it violates the rights of others.

Work through all 310 questions this way and the Einbürgerungstest stops being an exam you fear and becomes one you have simply already seen.