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This German trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the country from every angle: the Berlin Wall and reunification, the Rhine and the Alps, Oktoberfest, Bratwurst and Black Forest cake, Bach and Beethoven, the Autobahn and the carmakers, the Bundesliga and the national team, and the words the German language has lent to English. Questions run from easy ones anyone who has visited Germany can answer to hard ones for people who have lived there. Each question is multiple choice with an explanation after you answer, and every answer has been checked against a real source. Play it solo, or use it as a ready-made Germany round for a trivia night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital city of Germany?
Berlin
It is also the most populous city, though Frankfurt is the financial centre and the Ruhr the largest urban area; Bonn served as West Germany's provisional capital until reunification.
Q 02Which major river flows through the German cities of Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf?
Rhine
The Rhine River is one of Europe's major rivers, flowing through several German cities including Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf, and is vital for trade and transport.
Q 03In which year did the Berlin Wall fall?
1989
The border opened on 9 November 1989 after a bungled press conference; demolition of the wall only began the following June and finished in 1994.
Q 04What Munich festival is celebrated with beer, pretzels and lederhosen?
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest, has been held in Munich since 1810 and mostly runs in late September, ending around the first Sunday of October.
Q 05How many federal states (Bundesländer) does Germany consist of?
16
Germany has 16 Bundesländer: 13 area states and three city-states (Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen), each with its own constitution and seats in the Bundesrat.
Q 06Who was the first Chancellor of West Germany after World War II?
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer became the Federal Republic's first Chancellor in September 1949 at age 73 and served until 1963, steering West Germany into NATO and the European Economic Community.
Q 07Germany's southern border with Austria runs through which mountain range?
Alps
The Alps carry the frontier over the west summit of the Zugspitze, and the old checkpoint there went unstaffed once both countries joined the Schengen zone.
Q 08Which German composer is famous for works such as Brandenburg Concertos and The Well-Tempered Clavier?
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach composed both; the Brandenburg Concertos (1721) and the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) date from his years at the Calvinist court of Köthen, where elaborate church music was not wanted.
Q 09Which German car manufacturer produces the iconic 911 model?
Porsche
Porsche, a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs, and sedans, is famously known for its 911 model.
Q 10Which two German cities hosted the 1648 negotiations that ended the Thirty Years' War?
Münster and Osnabrück
The Peace of Westphalia, a series of peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War, was signed in the Westphalian cities of Münster and Osnabrück in 1648.
Q 11What is the highest mountain in Germany?
Zugspitze
The Zugspitze (2,962 m) is Germany's highest peak; the frontier with Austria runs over its summit, and the country's largest glaciers, the Schneeferner, cling to its flanks.
Q 12Germany's 1949 constitution is known by what modest-sounding name?
Basic Law
The Grundgesetz, or Basic Law, was deliberately called a 'law' rather than a constitution because it was meant to be provisional pending reunification, yet it still governs the united country.
Q 13Which German inventor is credited with developing the movable type printing press around 1440?
Johannes Gutenberg
Q 21What advisory speed applies on unrestricted stretches of Germany's Autobahn?
130 km/h
The Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h has applied since 1978; roughly 70% of the Autobahn network carries no permanent limit, and courts hold that an 'ideal driver' would not exceed it.
Q 22Which Bavarian king commissioned Neuschwanstein Castle in 1869, partly honouring Wagner?
Ludwig II
Ludwig II paid for Neuschwanstein from his own fortune and heavy borrowing rather than public funds; he died in 1886 with the castle unfinished, and it joined UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2025.
Q 23The design of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate is based on the gateway to which ancient site?
The Acropolis of Athens
Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz adapted the screw press and devised a process for mass-producing metal type around 1440, printing his 42-line Bible by about 1455 and transforming how knowledge spread.
Q 14Which German philosopher is known for the concept of the 'categorical imperative'?
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher, is central to modern philosophy and is renowned for his deontological ethics, particularly the categorical imperative.
Q 15What was the currency of Germany immediately before the introduction of the Euro?
Deutsche Mark
The Deutsche Mark, introduced in the western occupation zones in June 1948, remained legal tender until euro notes and coins replaced it at the start of 2002.
Q 16Which of these countries does NOT share a land border with Germany?
Sweden
Sweden faces Germany only across the Baltic Sea; nine countries touch it by land: Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Q 17Which German city has the nation's largest seaport, third in Europe by containers in 2024?
Hamburg
Hamburg, nicknamed the Gateway to the World, lies about 110 km up the Elbe from the North Sea and in 2024 ranked third among European container ports, behind only Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges.
Q 18Who wrote the classic German children's book 'Max and Moritz'?
Wilhelm Busch
Wilhelm Busch published Max and Moritz in 1865; the picture story of two mischievous boys is often cited as an ancestor of the comic strip and inspired the Katzenjammer Kids.
Q 19Which German author won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel 'The Tin Drum'?
Günter Grass
Günter Grass, a prominent German writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, largely for his debut novel 'The Tin Drum'.
Q 20In what year did East and West Germany officially reunify?
1990
On 3 October the GDR's five states acceded to the Federal Republic, and the date is now the national holiday, German Unity Day.
Carl Gotthard Langhans modelled the gate (1788–91) on the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis of Athens, which also has six Doric columns; the quadriga was recast from a goddess of peace to Victoria after 1814.
Q 24Cologne Cathedral, begun in 1248, was finally completed to its medieval plan in which year?
1880
Work stopped around 1560 and resumed in 1842; the cathedral was finished in 1880, its 157-metre twin spires briefly the tallest structure in the world, housing the Shrine of the Three Kings.
Q 25The name of the sweets maker Haribo is an abbreviation of its founder's name and which German city?
Bonn
Hans Riegel registered the company in 1920 and produced the first gummy bears two years later.
Q 26After the Dassler brothers split, Adolf founded Adidas and Rudolf founded which rival?
Puma
Rudolf Dassler founded Puma in 1948 after falling out with his brother Adolf; both companies were based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, on opposite banks of the Aurach river.
Q 27Roughly how many Volkswagen Beetles were built between 1938 and 2003?
21.5 million
Some 21.5 million Beetles were built between 1938 and the last Mexican-made car in July 2003; Ferdinand Porsche led the design, though the basic concept is credited to Béla Barényi in 1925.
Q 28How many grammatical cases do German nouns, pronouns and adjectives have?
Four
German has four cases, nominative, accusative, genitive and dative, combined with three grammatical genders; it is the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.
Q 29The Black Forest lies entirely within which German state?
Baden-Württemberg
The Black Forest lies wholly within Baden-Württemberg; its highest peak is the Feldberg at 1,493 metres, and the range is bounded by the Rhine to the west and south.
Q 30Which German city hosts the European Central Bank and the country's main stock exchange?
Frankfurt
The DAX index of the Frankfurt exchange tracks the country's major listed companies.