How much do you know about German politics [and history]?

[republicanism]

I couldn't resist...

33 questions. 100 points to get. Answers for each one per PM.

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EASY (34 points)

1. Name the current chancellor and his/her party. (2 points)

2. As a federal republic, Germany comprises subdivisions called Länder. How many of them exist? Also name the largest and the smallest by population, if you can (3)

3. What is the German federal parliament called? (1)

4. Name all eight German chancellors since 1949 and their party affiliation. (8 )

5. Currently, six parties hold seats in the German federal parliament. Name them. (3)

6. Which parties have formed the German federal government from 1998-2005, which from 2005-2009, and which do since 2009? (3)

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the Weimar republic era. (4)

8. Who were Konrad Adenauer, Rosa Luxemburg, Paul von Hindenburg and Hermann Göring? (4)

9. What happened on July the 20th, 1944? (1)

10. Which party gained the most votes in all federal elections in Germany from 1919 to July 1932? (1)

11. In German political discourse, parties are often connected with colors. What color/colors refer to which party/parties? (4)

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INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. In the 2009 federal elections, two parties got more than 1%, but less than 5% of the vote. Which? (2)

2. Which German party was – except for one short interregnum of about two weeks - part of every national government between 1969 and 1998? (1)

3. How is the German federal parliament elected? Explain the voting system, roughly. (3)

4. Name the ten German Federal Presidents since 1949 (10)

5. In the 2009 federal elections, the SPD remained the strongest party in only one state. In which one? (1)

6. Which German chancellor was nicknamed Birne (Pear)? (1)

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the German Empire 1871-1918. (4)

8. Who were Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Stresemann, August Bebel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger? (4)

9. What happened on August the 13th, 1961? (1)

10. Since 1945, the best result a party ever gained in any state election in Germany was 64,5%. Which party won so many votes, in what state, and in what year? (3)

11.Who said “We want to dare more democracy”? (3)

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Hard (33 points)

1. Only three times since 1949, the SPD gained more votes than the CDU/CSU in a federal election. Name the three election years. (3)

2. What electoral system was used for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire 1871-1918? Who had the right to vote? (2)

3. In the federal elections of 2002, 2005 and 2009, the Greens won one out the 299 singe member constituencies. In which federal state, which constituency, and who won it? (3)

4. How is the German head of state, the Bundespräsident, elected? Explain the process, roughly. (2)

5. In 1990, two important German politicians were badly injured in assassination attempts, both survived though. Who were they? (2)

6. Of all German Länder, three of them carry the purely ceremonial title Freistaat (Free State). Name them. (3)

7. There are three recognized language minorities in Germany. Name them. (3)

8. Who were Gustav Noske, Alfred Hugenberg, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Brüning? (4)

9. Four historical events with great impact on German history took place on a November the 9th. Name them. (4)

10. Who are the current heads of government in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westfalia, Hamburg and Hesse? (4)

11. Who said “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - [...]- but by iron and blood"? (3)

[minionofmidas]

1. Name the current chancellor and his/her party. (2 points)
Angela Merkel, CDU.

2. As a federal republic, Germany comprises subdivisions called Länder. How many of them exist? Also name the largest and the smallest by population, if you can (3)
16. North Rhine Westphalia. Bremen.

3. What is the German parliament called? (1)
I am not certain it even has a name, actually. "The German parliament" would be both chambers collectively. You probably mean the Bundestag.

4. Name all eight German chancellors since 1949 and their party affiliation. (8 )
Konrad Adenauer, CDU. Ludwig Erhard, CDU. Kurt Georg Kiesinger, CDU. Herbert "Willy Brandt" Frahm, SPD. Helmut Schmidt, SPD. Helmut Kohl, CDU. Gerhard Schröder, SPD. Angela Merkel, CDU.

5. Currently, six parties hold seats in the German federal parliament. Name them. (3)
CDU, SPD, FDP, Bündnis 90/Grüne, Linkspartei, CSU.

6. Which parties have formed the German federal government from 1998-2005, which from 2005-2009, and which do since 2009? (3)
SPD/Greens, SPD/CDU/CSU, CDU/FDP/CSU.

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the Weimar republic era. (4)
Zentrum, KPD, SPD, NSDAP, DDP, DNVP, DVP (I think). BVP perhaps as well?

8. Who were Konrad Adenauer, Rosa Luxemburg, Paul von Hindenburg and Hermann Göring? (4)
First postwar Chancellor. Polish left-wing socialist theoretician who fleetingly was very influential on the German (proto-Communist) left during the revolutionary days of 1918 and was murdered and then iconized for her troubles. A senile asshat and general, President of Germany 1925 to his death in 34. A fat buffoon and close ally of Hitler's.

9. What happened on July the 20th, 1944? (1)
Some nazis (basically) staged an unsuccessful coup against Hitler, starting with a failed assassination attempt.

10. Which party gained the most votes in all federal elections in Germany from 1919 to July 1932? (1)
SPD. Not in July 32 though, so it should be 1919 to 1930.

11. In German political discourse, parties are often connected with colors. What color/colors refer to which party/parties? (4)
Red - SPD and also Left (as in, "red-red coalition")
Green - Greens, duh
Black - CDU and CSU, formerly Zentrum
Yellow - FDP

INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. In the 2009 federal elections, two parties got more than 1%, but less than 5% of the vote. Which? (2)
Pirates and ...NPD?

2. Which German party was – except for one short interregnum of about two weeks - part of every national government between 1969 and 1998? (1)
FDP.

3. How is the German federal parliament elected? Explain the voting system, roughly. (3)
National PR with a five percent threshold. And a twist that can throw the seat distribution off in favor of the strongest party if it's not very strong. That's because parties' seats are ridistributed to state parties, and there's also single-member constituencies, and if you win more of these than you're due seats in that particular state you're allowed to keep the change.

4. Name the ten German Federal Presidents since 1949 (10)
Theodor Heuss, FDP. Heinrich Lübke, CDU. Gustav Heinemann, SPD. Walter Scheel, FDP. Karl Carstens, CDU. Richard Freiherr von Weizsäcker, CDU. Roman Herzog, CDU. Johannes Rau, SPD. Horst Köhler, CDU. Christian Wulff, CDU.

5. In the 2009 federal elections, the SPD remained the strongest party in only one state. In which one? (1)
Brandenburg

6. Which German chancellor was nicknamed Birne (Pear)? (1)
Kohl

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the German Empire 1871-1918. (4)
It was all single member, lots of parties didn't run nearly anywhere, and party affiliations among the bourgeois parties could be somewhat fluid. But Zentrum, SPD, and probably all of Konservative, Deutsche Reichspartei (aka Freikonservative), Nationalliberale, Freisinn under whatever name it used at the time. Don't think the Volkspartei (aka Democrats) ever managed that share. They're usually lumped in with the Freisinn, which was often split into two parties, as "Liberals" or "Left Liberals" - not a period term - anyways.

8. Who were Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Stresemann, August Bebel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger? (4)
Social Democratic politico, first President of the Weimar Republic and a traitor to his class and his people. DVP politico of the Weimar era. SPD "leader" / style icon for most of the Kaiserreich. CDU prime minister of Baden-Württemberg in the 60s and then a hapless Chancellor, leading a Grand Coalition in 1966-9.

9. What happened on August the 13th, 1961? (1)
Someone built himself a wall.

10. Since 1945, the best result a party ever gained in any state election in Germany was 64,5%. Which party won so many votes, in what state, and in what year? (3)
CSU, Bavaria, one of Goppel's elections (so 62, 66, 70 or 74). Although it's possible that this is a trick question, and the real answer is the SPD in Bremen somewhere around that time.

11.Who said “We want to dare more democracy”? (3)
Willy Brandt. Said it as if he meant it, too, but of course he didn't.

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Hard (33 points)

1. Only three times since 1949, the SPD gained more votes than the CDU/CSU in a federal election. Name the three election years. (3)
1972, 1998, 2002

2. What electoral system was used for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire 1871-1918? Who had the right to vote? (2)
Single member constituencies, runoff between the top two finishers if no one got 50%. All adult males (or was it all males over 25?) Horribly malapportioned constituencies that never got redrawn despite it being mandated by the Constitution.

3. In the federal elections of 2002, 2005 and 2009, the Greens won one out the 299 singe member constituencies. In which federal state, which constituency, and who won it? (3)
Berlin, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg-Prenzlauer Berg Ost, Hans-Christian Ströbele.

4. How is the German head of state, the Bundespräsident, elected? Explain the process, broadly. (2)
He's elected by the Bundesversammlung, which consists of all MPs and a corresponding number of people chosen proportionally be the state legislatures, and which exists for this purpose only. Up to three rounds of voting, you need a majority on the first two. Simple plurality will suffice on the third.

5. In 1990, two important German politicians were badly injured in assassination attempts, both survived though. Who were they? (2)
Wolfgang Schäuble, Oskar Lafontaine. Though I thought Oskar's injuries were fairly mild. Schäuble of course has been wheelchair bound ever since.

6. Of all German Länder, three of them carry the purely ceremonial title Freistaat (Free State). Name them. (3)
Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia.

7. There are three recognized language minorities in Germany. Name them. (3)
Are there? I had no idea. Uh... North Frisian, Saterland Frisian, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian? Take your pick at what's excluded. Or maybe they're grouped two-and-two even though each and any linguist in the world would shriek in disgust, and the third is Low German. Yeah. I think that's what I'll go by.

8. Who were Gustav Noske, Alfred Hugenberg, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Brüning? (4)
Ebert's henchman / minister for the army who had the German Revolution extinguished with fire and sword despite being supposedly a "social democrat". A far-right publisher, influential in Hitler's rise even though he preferred the DNVP. Leader of that minority faction in the NSDAP that thought the "kinda socialist except that we hate the internationalism that is an intrinsic part of that" was supposed to have a meaning and not just sound good. Hitler had him murdered, of course. Zentrum politician and Prime Minister of 1930-2. Had no parliamentary support and governed mostly by decree, but at least he tried. Still, first step of a slippery slope that led into Hitler's dictatorship. Was in exile in America during the nazi years, IIRC.

9. Four historical events with great impact on German history took place on a November the 9th. Name them. (4)
1848, murder of Robert Blum by Austrian authorities. 1918, resignation of the emperor. 1923, Ludendorff's hilarious coup attempt that propelled Hitler to national prominence. 1989, the Politbüro decides that Ausreiseanträge will from now on be processed fast and always agreed to. Schabowski holds a press conference. Western politicans deliberately(?) misunderstand him, think the Wall is down, and publicly celebrate the fact that the Wall is down. East Berliners watch Western tv and think the Wall is down. They go see for themselves, and it is not. Not for long, though. Oh, and there was a staged pogrom in 1938 that came to be seen (with a lot of justification) as a start of the second phase of Hitler's rule, and emblematic of his hatred of Jews. So that makes five.

10. Who are the current heads of government in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westfalia, Hamburg and Hesse? (4)
Horst Seehofer, CSU. Hannelore Kraft, SPD. Olaf Scholz, SPD. Volker Bouffier, CDU.

11. Who said “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - [...]- but by iron and blood"? (3)
Bismarck?



EDIT: I can't believe I didn't think of Danish. Autschn.

[greenforest32]

Decided to try for fun and skipped the obscure ones (at least to me) I don't know. I know a little bit about Germany and learned some more.


Easy:
1. Angela Merkel-CDU
2. 16
3. I always hear Bundestag but I think that's just the lower house. Isn't the national legislature (both chambers) called the Diet or something?
4. Konrad Adenauer-CDU, Ludwig Erhard-CDU, Kurt Georg Kiesinger-CDU, Willy Brandt-SPD, Helmut Schmidt-SPD, Helmut Kohl-CDU, Gerhard Schröder-SPD, Angela Merkel-CDU
5. Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), Social Democratic Party (SPD), Free Democratic Party (FDP), The Left, The Greens
6. 1998-2005 was SPD/Green coalition. 2005-2009 was CDU/CSU/SPD coalition and then after the 2009 election it's a CDU/CSU/FDP coalition.
7. Don't know
8. Don't know
9. Hitler assassination attempt
10. Gained most votes means going from lowest to highest? That's the National Socialist party I assume. Otherwise SPD won most of those elections.
11. Black = CDU, Red = SPD, Green = Greens, Yellow = FDP, Dark red = The Left

Intermediate:
1. Pirate Party and the National Democratic Party
2. Don't know
3. I think it's proportional representation for the lower house and the upper house seat allocation is based on the states' own election results so that they mirror each other.
4. Don't know. Looking up is difficult as there were presidents for both West/East Germany.
5. Bremen
6. Hermut Kohl
7. Don't know
8. Don't know
9. Construction of Berlin Wall
10. Don't know
11. Willy Brandt

Hard:
1. 1972, 1998, 2002
2. Single member districts and all German males 25 and older could vote.
3. Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Prenzlauer Berg East, Hans-Christian Ströbele (I Berlin)
4. Basically an electoral college is formed with votes/representation based on the composition of the federal legislature and a vote is held.
5. Don't know
6. Had to read that twice. I thought it was referring to the 3 city states (Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg). It's Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia.
7. Don't know
8. Don't know
9. Tear down of the Berlin Wall? Don't know the other 3.
10. Bavaria/Horst Seehofe, North Rhine-Westphalia/Hannelore Kraft, Hamburg/Olaf Scholz, Hesse/Volker Bouffier
11. Otto von Bismarck.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Let's go !


EASY (34 points)

1. Name the current chancellor and his/her party. (2 points)

Angela Merkel, CDU (right-wing)

2. As a federal republic, Germany comprises subdivisions called Länder. How many of them exist? Also name the largest and the smallest by population, if you can (3)

16 Länder (of which 3 autonomous cities-or-however-they-are-called). The biggest is... Lower Saxony ? And the smallest must be Saarland ?

3. What is the German federal parliament called? (1)

The Bundestag

4. Name all eight German chancellors since 1949 and their party affiliation. (

Konrad Adenauer (CDU)
Ludwig Ehrart (CDU)
Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU)
Willy Brandt (SPD)
Helmut Schmidt (SPD)
Helmut Kohl (CDU)
Gehrard Schröder (SPD)
Angela Merkel (CDU)

5. Currently, six parties hold seats in the German federal parliament. Name them. (3)

Die Linke
SPD
Alliance 90/The Greens
FDP
CDU
CSU (bavarian equivalent of the CDU)

6. Which parties have formed the German federal government from 1998-2005, which from 2005-2009, and which do since 2009? (3)

1998-2005 : SPD (senior member), Greens (junior member), aka "red-green coalition"
2005-2009 : CDU-CSU (senior member), SPD (junior member), aka "grand coalition"
2009-... : CDU-CSU (senior member), FDP (junior member), aka "black-yellow coalition"

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the Weimar republic era. (4)

Isn't it pretty redundant with question 5 ? Well, CDU, SPD, FDP, the Greens.

8. Who were Konrad Adenauer, Rosa Luxemburg, Paul von Hindenburg and Hermann Göring? (4)

Konrad Adenauer : 1st Chancellor of the German Federal Republic (founded in 1949 in the german areas occupied by western armies).

Rosa Luxemburg : Communist leader in the early days of the Weimar Republic. She was executed followed the failed "spartakist revolution".

Paul von Hindenburg : An Imperial General during World War 1, he was later elected President of the Weimar Republic against Hitler. He was more or less forced to appoint Hitler chancellor in 1933. The next year, he died and the 3rd Reich was established.

Herman Göring : One of the dignitaries of the 3rd Reich, he was designed as Hitler's successor. He was sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trial, but committed suicide in his jail.

9. What happened on July the 20th, 1944? (1)

Eh, no idea. Maybe one of Hitler's failed assassination attepts ?

10. Which party gained the most votes in all federal elections in Germany from 1919 to July 1932? (1)

Dunno... The SPD ?

11. In German political discourse, parties are often connected with colors. What color/colors refer to which party/parties? (4)

CDU : black
SPD : red
FDP : yellow
Greens : guess...
Linke : red too, even though they are often pink in some diagrams.

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INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. In the 2009 federal elections, two parties got more than 1%, but less than 5% of the vote. Which? (2)

The NPD (far-right) and the Pirate Party (lulz)

2. Which German party was – except for one short interregnum of about two weeks - part of every national government between 1969 and 1998? (1)

The FDP.

3. How is the German federal parliament elected? Explain the voting system, roughly. (3)

Half of MPs (roughly) are elected through single-round FPP in uninominal constituencies (1st vote). The other half is elected in party lists (2nd vote), through compensatory PR. Ie, the list seats are allotted in the way to ensure that the overall composition of the parliament is proportional to second votes. Only parties getting over 5% access to Parliamentary representation.

4. Name the ten German Federal Presidents since 1949 (10)

The current one is Christian Wulf (CDU), and his predecessor was Hörst Köhler (CDU). Other than that, no idea.

5. In the 2009 federal elections, the SPD remained the strongest party in only one state. In which one? (1)

Saarland ?

6. Which German chancellor was nicknamed Birne (Pear)? (1)

Dunno... Kohl ?

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the German Empire 1871-1918. (4)

The SPD... Otherwise no idea.

8. Who were Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Stresemann, August Bebel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger? (4)

They were all Chancellors. The first two in the Weimar Republic, the last one after WW2 and no idea for Bebel.

9. What happened on August the 13th, 1961? (1)

The Building of the Berlin Wall ?

10. Since 1945, the best result a party ever gained in any state election in Germany was 64,5%. Which party won so many votes, in what state, and in what year? (3)

The CSU in Bavaria, certainly. No idea of the date.

11.Who said “We want to dare more democracy”? (3)

No idea. Willy Brandt ?

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Hard (33 points)

1. Only three times since 1949, the SPD gained more votes than the CDU/CSU in a federal election. Name the three election years. (3)

Hum... 1969, 1972 and 1998 ?

2. What electoral system was used for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire 1871-1918? Who had the right to vote? (2)

I think it was universal suffrage, but with different ponderations depending on financial criteria. Ie the wealthier you were, the most votes you had. I'm not sure though.

3. In the federal elections of 2002, 2005 and 2009, the Greens won one out the 299 singe member constituencies. In which federal state, which constituency, and who won it? (3)

It was in Berlin, I remember seeing the maps. Don't know the constituency or the guy, though.

4. How is the German head of state, the Bundespräsident, elected? Explain the process, roughly. (2)

It's elected by MPs of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat (upper house). An absolute majority is required.

5. In 1990, two important German politicians were badly injured in assassination attempts, both survived though. Who were they? (2)

No idea.

6. Of all German Länder, three of them carry the purely ceremonial title Freistaat (Free State). Name them. (3)

Boh... The 3 cities (Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin) ?

7. There are three recognized language minorities in Germany. Name them. (3)

Wait, really ? No idea. Maybe Danish in the north of the Schleswig-Holstein...

8. Who were Gustav Noske, Alfred Hugenberg, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Brüning? (4)

No idea.

9. Four historical events with great impact on German history took place on a November the 9th. Name them. (4)

There was the Crystal Night, and the fall of the Berlin wall. Don't remember the 2 others.

10. Who are the current heads of government in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westfalia, Hamburg and Hesse? (4)

Dunno.

11. Who said “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - [...]- but by iron and blood"? (3)

Bismarck.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

1 Angela Merkel, CDU
2 how many? uh. jeeze. um. 16? the Largest in population is Rhineland, the one that includes the Rhur area. The smallest is Saarland.
3 Bunderstag or something like that
4 oh geeze. uh Merkel CDU, Schroder SPD, uh... Khol CDU, um... uh... that's all I got
5 CDU, CSU, SPD, FPD (liberal one), Greens, and Die Linke
6 FDP and SPD, SPD and Green, and FDP and CDU/CSU
7 NAZI of course, uh the Centrist, started with a Z. uh the. um. Socialists and the Communists.
8 Adenauer was a Chancellor, a centrist/moderate right-winger. Rosa was famous for being on the radio broadcasting like free germany stuff. Hindenburg was the President for a little while when Hitler was Chancellor IIRC, and Goring was the NAZI dude who did a lot of bad stuff.
9 uh?
10 hum... either the Socialists or the Communists... I say Socialist
11 SPD is Red. CDU is Black, tho CSU is sometimes Blue. FDP is Yellow. Green is, well, Green

1 hum. is one of them the NDP nazi party? hum.
2 FPD/FDP Liberals (I forget what order the DPD is in)
3 MMP. Half the members in constituencies, FPTP, and the other half based on Proportional Representation to "fill up" the numbers to match the proportion of vote received.
4 wha
5 The one with the Rhur, the Rhineland one.
6 no idea
7 Socialists, the Z Centrists, and the um... some kind of Conservative party, I forget it's name, and... oh this one is hard. I know there was actually a Jewish party around at the time, I've seen the maps... I'll go with that as a shot in the dark
8 uh. I dunno.
9 no clue... something with the Berlin Wall?
10 CSU and Bavaria probably
11 the chancellor who united germany?

1 lol no idea
2 FPTP? um. landowing men over 21?
3 Berlin. no idea.
4 What is this I dont even
5 dunno. But for fun I'll say it's that SDP guy with glasses who's not a real member
6 dunno
7 Wends, and the... uh... Danish? and... hum. French?
8 are you making these peopole up lol
9 oh. I just heard about this. bah. I forget. Was one of them when Hitler burned down Parliament?
10 uh. I dunno.
11 Some Communist

[Хahar 🤔]

1. Angela Merkel, CDU
2. Don't remember the number. I think the largest is Bavaria and the smallest is the Saar.
3. Bundestag
4. Adenauer (CDU), Kiesinger (CDU), Don't remember (CDU), Brandt (SPD), Schmidt (SPD), Kohl (CDU), Schröder (SPD), Merkel (CDU)
5. SPD, CDU, CSU, FDP, Greens, Left
6. SPD/Green, CDU/CSU/SPD, CDU/CSU/FDP
7. Zentrum, SPD, KPD, NSDAP
8. Weimar Republic politicians, although Luxemburg died early in that period.
9. Failed plot against Hitler
10. SPD
11. Red for SPD and Left, green for Greens, yellow for FDP, black for CDU, blue for CSU

1. NDP and some other party.
2. FDP
3. MMP by state; voters cast two ballots, and list members are elected in addition to constituency members so that the total number is proportional to the list vote results.
4. Köhler is the only one I can remember.
5. Hamburg
6. Brandt?
7. SPD, Zentrum, Conservative, National Liberal
8. Chancellors
9. Don't know.
10. CSU in Bavaria. Was it in 2005?
11. Don't know

1. 1969, 1972, 1998
2. FPTP; all citizens could vote.
3. A constituency in central Berlin.
4. Each member of the Bundestag gets a vote, and each state parliament elects a number of voters equal to the number of members of the Bundestag. Together they form the electoral college that elects the President.
5. Don't know
6. Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt
7. Danish, Polish, Sorbian
8. Center-right Weimar politicians
9. Fall of the Berlin Wall, accession of Hitler to power, declaration of the German Empire, no clue for the last.
10. Don't know
11. Bismarck

[Hash]

1. Name the current chancellor and his/her party. (2 points)
Angela Merkel, CDU

2. As a federal republic, Germany comprises subdivisions called Länder. How many of them exist? Also name the largest and the smallest by population, if you can (3)
16. NRW is the largest, Saarland is the smallest

3. What is the German federal parliament called? (1)
Bundestag

4. Name all eight German chancellors since 1949 and their party affiliation. (8 )
Merkel, CDU
Schroder, SPD
Kohl, CDU
Schmidt, SPD
Brandt, SPD
??
Adenauer, CDU

5. Currently, six parties hold seats in the German federal parliament. Name them. (3)
CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, Greens, Left

6. Which parties have formed the German federal government from 1998-2005, which from 2005-2009, and which do since 2009? (3)
98-05: SPD-Greens
05-09: CDU-SPD
09-: CDU-FDP

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the Weimar republic era. (4)
Nazis, Communists, SPD, Zentrum

8. Who were Konrad Adenauer, Rosa Luxemburg, Paul von Hindenburg and Hermann Göring? (4)
Adenauer: first Chancellor of Germany post-war
Luxemburg: communist leader during Weimar, killed
von Hindenburg: WW1 general, President of Germany during Weimar, named Hitler chancellor
Goring: Luftwaffe boss, top echelon Nazi etc

9. What happened on July the 20th, 1944? (1)
Stauffenberg plot on Hitler's life

10. Which party gained the most votes in all federal elections in Germany from 1919 to July 1932? (1)
SPD

11. In German political discourse, parties are often connected with colors. What color/colors refer to which party/parties? (4)
CDU: black (CSU: blue)
SPD: red
greens: greens
FDP: yellow
left: red or sometimes purple

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INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. In the 2009 federal elections, two parties got more than 1%, but less than 5% of the vote. Which? (2)
NPD, Pirates

2. Which German party was – except for one short interregnum of about two weeks - part of every national government between 1969 and 1998? (1)
FDP?

3. How is the German federal parliament elected? Explain the voting system, roughly. (3)
MMP. Can't remember the proportion, but part are elected through party-list pr and others are elected through fptp in single-seat constituencies

4. Name the ten German Federal Presidents since 1949 (10)
Kohler, Wulff are the most recent ones. Can't recall any others.

5. In the 2009 federal elections, the SPD remained the strongest party in only one state. In which one? (1)
Brandenburg?

6. Which German chancellor was nicknamed Birne (Pear)? (1)
?

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the German Empire 1871-1918. (4)
Zentrum, Conservatives, National Liberal, SPD

8. Who were Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Stresemann, August Bebel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger? (4)
Ebert: SPD guy, president of Weimar Germany and IIRC also served as one of the first Chancellors of weimar
Stresemann: Chancellor and then foreign minister during Weimar
Bebel: ?
Kiesinger: can't remember

9. What happened on August the 13th, 1961? (1)
Berlin Wall put up?

10. Since 1945, the best result a party ever gained in any state election in Germany was 64,5%. Which party won so many votes, in what state, and in what year? (3)
CSU, Bavaria, ??

11.Who said “We want to dare more democracy”? (3)
?

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Hard (33 points)

1. Only three times since 1949, the SPD gained more votes than the CDU/CSU in a federal election. Name the three election years. (3)
2002, don't know others

2. What electoral system was used for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire 1871-1918? Who had the right to vote? (2)
limited franchise in rotten constituencies. Only rich voted or something.

3. In the federal elections of 2002, 2005 and 2009, the Greens won one out the 299 singe member constituencies. In which federal state, which constituency, and who won it? (3)
Berlin-Friedsomething-Kreuzberg something in Berlin

4. How is the German head of state, the Bundespräsident, elected? Explain the process, roughly. (2)
50% Bundestag + 50% delegates from state legislatures. Needs absolute majority to win.

5. In 1990, two important German politicians were badly injured in assassination attempts, both survived though. Who were they? (2)
??

6. Of all German Länder, three of them carry the purely ceremonial title Freistaat (Free State). Name them. (3)
Bavaria, Hessen, ??

7. There are three recognized language minorities in Germany. Name them. (3)
Danish, Sorbian?, ??

8. Who were Gustav Noske, Alfred Hugenberg, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Brüning? (4)
Noske: ?
Hugenberg: leader of DNVP during Weimar
Strasser: left-wing Nazi sidelined by Hitler
Bruning: right-wing Zentrum Chancellor

9. Four historical events with great impact on German history took place on a November the 9th. Name them. (4)
fall of the wall in 1990, Crystal Night... ??

10. Who are the current heads of government in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westfalia, Hamburg and Hesse? (4)
Bavaria: Seehofer
NRW: SPD woman. Kraft?
Hesse: used to be Roland something, now some CDU guy

11. Who said “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - [...]- but by iron and blood"? (3)
Bismarck

[JonBidinger]

EASY (34 points)

1. Angela Merkel, CDU

2. 16, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bremen

3. der Bundestag

4. Konrad Adenauer, CDU
Ludwig Erhard, CDU
Kurt Georg Kiesinger, CDU
Willy Brandt, SPD
Helmut Schmidt, SPD
Helmut Kohl, CDU
Gerhard Schroeder, SPD
Angela Merkel, CDU

5. CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD, Bündnis '90/Die Grünen, Die Linke

6. SPD-Grünen, CDU/CSU-SPD, CDU/CSU-FDP

7. Zentrum, SPD, NDSAP, KPD

8. First Chancellor, communist martyr, last Weimar President, and Nazi Luftwaffe chief resectively

9. Assassination attempt on Hitler

10. SPD

11. CDU, black
SPD, red
FDP, yellow
Die Grünen, green natch
CSU, blue
Die Linke, red as well (usually darker or pink)

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INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. Piratenpartei, NDP

2. FDP

3. PR Party List MMP

4. Theodor Heuss
Walter Scheel
Richard von Weizsäcker
Roman Herzog
Johanes Rau
Horst Köhler
Christian Wulff

5. Bremen

6. Helmut Kohl

7. Zentrum, National Liberal

8. Kiesinger was a Chancellor

9. Wall goes up

10. SPD, Berlin, 1948

11.

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Hard (33 points)

1. 1976, 1982, 1998

2. Idk, and taxpayers?

3. Berlin, Friedrichsomething-Kreuzberg-something or another , Hans-Christian Ströbele

4. by secret ballot by members of a federal convention made up of federal parliamentarians and delegates from the states.

5. Wolfgang Schäuble and Oskar Lafontaine

6. Bayern, Sachsen, Thuringen

7. Danish, Frisian,

8.

9. Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, Beer Hall Putsch, Kristallnacht, Fall of the Wall

10. Horst Seehofer, Hannelore Kraft, Olaf Scholz, Volker Bouffier

11. Bismarck

[MaxQue]

EASY:
1. Angela Merkel, CDU

2. 16. Smallest: Bremen. Largest: Rhineland-Westphalia.

3. Reichstag?

4. Adenauer (CDU), Schmidt (SDP), Brandt (SDP), Kohl (CDU), Schroder (SDP), Merkel (CDU). I forgot two, I know.

5. SDP, CDU, CSU, Die Linke, FDP, Greens - Alliance 90.

6. 1998-2005: SDP-Green
    2005-2009: CDU/CSU-SDP
    Since 2009: CDU/CSU-FDP
     
7. KPD (Communist), Zentrum, NDSAP (Nazis) and SDP.

8. Adenauer was the Chancellor of West Germany after WWII. CDU.
   Rosa Luxemburg was some Commie between the two wars which got killed.
   Hindenburg was a zeppelin who crashed in the US. In fact, he was the President during the 30's which was forced to give his power to Hitler.
   Goering (yes, ö=oe, no?) was some guy which was with Hitler in an important office. NDSAP.

9. Allied armies first entered German territory.

10. SDP?

11. Green = Green
     SDP = Red
     FDP = Yellow
     CDU = Black
     CSU = Blue
     Die Linke = Purple


INTERMEDIATE:
1. Rep and NDP? (your awful NDP, not to be confused with the fabulous Canadian NDP, which is more like your SDP)

2. FDP.

3. Upper house is designated by the lander governments. Lower house is elected by a two part vote. First vote is a FPTP vote, like in most English countries. Second vote is a list vote, you vote for a party, not a person. Seats are distributed among parties which got more than 5% of votes, to create proportionality. If needed, overhang mandates are created to achieve it.

4. No. One resigned and the new one sounds like an animal, but, I don't know.

5. Hamburg?

6. Schmidt?

7. There was elections under Empire? I'm shocked. I'll try Zentrum, SDP, DVP and KDP.

8. I don't know. Bebel rings me a bell, however.

9.  Kennedy said "Ich being am Berliner"? (sorry, I don't speak German).

10. CSU, Bavaria, 1981?

11. Adenauer?


HARD:
1. 1998, 2002 and 1972?

2. FPTP? Male Owners?

3. In Berlin, Mitte constituency, by Eva hyphenated name?

4. By the vote of the members of both houses of the Parliament. An absolute majority is needed for the two first rounds, relative majority is enough in the third. Vote is secret.

5. Kohl and Schmidt?

6. Bavaria, Bremen and Hamburg?

7. Danish, Bavarian and Swabian?

8. I don't know. Strasser rings a bell, but, no.

9. Kristallnacht, fall of the Berlin wall, some victory of Teutonic Knights in the Baltic area and abdication of Wilhelm after WWI?

10. I don't know. I was to say Koch for Hesse, but I think he left.

11. Otto van Bismarck

[Platypus]

33 questions. 100 points to get. Answers for each one per PM.

---

EASY (34 points)

1. Name the current chancellor and his/her party. (2 points)

Angela Merkel, CDU.

2. As a federal republic, Germany comprises subdivisions called Länder. How many of them exist? Also name the largest and the smallest by population, if you can (3)

Fifteen, NRW and Saarland.

3. What is the German federal parliament called? (1)

Bundestag.

4. Name all eight German chancellors since 1949 and their party affiliation. (8 )

CDU: Adenauer, Kohl, Merkel
SDP: Brandt, Schroeder

5. Currently, six parties hold seats in the German federal parliament. Name them. (3)

SDP, CDU, CSU, Greens, FDP, Left.

6. Which parties have formed the German federal government from 1998-2005, which from 2005-2009, and which do since 2009? (3)

Greens/SDP; SDP/CDU(/CSU?)

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the Weimar republic era. (4)

Communist, Nazi, SDP, ...Liberals?

8. Who were Konrad Adenauer, Rosa Luxemburg, Paul von Hindenburg and Hermann Göring? (4)

West German Chancellor, Marxist philosopher, Guy who gave Hitler power,  Hitler'sright-hand-man and Luftwaffe commandant.

9. What happened on July the 20th, 1944? (1)

Dresden bombing?

10. Which party gained the most votes in all federal elections in Germany from 1919 to July 1932? (1)

Communists

11. In German political discourse, parties are often connected with colors. What color/colors refer to which party/parties? (4)

SDP: Red. CDU/CSU: Black. Left: Blue. Greens: Green. FDP: Yellow.

---

INTERMEDIATE (33)

1. In the 2009 federal elections, two parties got more than 1%, but less than 5% of the vote. Which? (2)
...

2. Which German party was – except for one short interregnum of about two weeks - part of every national government between 1969 and 1998? (1)

FDP

3. How is the German federal parliament elected? Explain the voting system, roughly. (3)

Constituencies, with parties that get over 5% also getting list seats.

4. Name the ten German Federal Presidents since 1949 (10)

...Wolf? Wulf?

5. In the 2009 federal elections, the SPD remained the strongest party in only one state. In which one? (1)

North Rhine-Westfalia?

6. Which German chancellor was nicknamed Birne (Pear)? (1)

Kohl?

7. Name four parties that gained more than 5% of the vote in at least two elections during the German Empire 1871-1918. (4)

SDP, Communists, Liberals, CDU?

8. Who were Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Stresemann, August Bebel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger? (4)

Ebert was something to do with the Weimar republic, not sure of the rest.

9. What happened on August the 13th, 1961? (1)

Berlin wall went up.

10. Since 1945, the best result a party ever gained in any state election in Germany was 64,5%. Which party won so many votes, in what state, and in what year? (3)

CSU, Bavaria, 199...4?

11.Who said “We want to dare more democracy”? (3)

Adenauer?
---

Hard (33 points)

1. Only three times since 1949, the SPD gained more votes than the CDU/CSU in a federal election. Name the three election years. (3)

1998, ...

2. What electoral system was used for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire 1871-1918? Who had the right to vote? (2)

Men with land, list votes?

3. In the federal elections of 2002, 2005 and 2009, the Greens won one out the 299 singe member constituencies. In which federal state, which constituency, and who won it? (3)

Berlin? ...

4. How is the German head of state, the Bundespräsident, elected? Explain the process, roughly. (2)

Nominated by Chancellor, approved by both houses of the Bundestag.

5. In 1990, two important German politicians were badly injured in assassination attempts, both survived though. Who were they? (2)

Honecker?

6. Of all German Länder, three of them carry the purely ceremonial title Freistaat (Free State). Name them. (3)

Berlin, Bavaria, Saarland?

7. There are three recognized language minorities in Germany. Name them. (3)

Sorbian, French, Polish?

8. Who were Gustav Noske, Alfred Hugenberg, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Brüning? (4)

...

9. Four historical events with great impact on German history took place on a November the 9th. Name them. (4)

Fall of the wall, Beer Hall Putsch?, Reichstag fire?, And something to do with the end of WWI?


10. Who are the current heads of government in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westfalia, Hamburg and Hesse? (4)

...

11. Who said “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - [...]- but by iron and blood"? (3)

Honecker? This is waaaay too West German, btw.