Just saw on some newspapers today about the new requirement for citizenship and was a little taken aback.
It seems as though the politcians have not have enough with the already existing bureaucratic ordeal when an auslanader wants to get a resident permit or citizenship. They are now planning to take exams with 100 questions (about philosophy, politics) to any applicants.
The "idea" itself is not that bad but why is it only "Auslander" who are on the receiving end ? Don't we have had enough of this bureaucratic shit already.
Firstly I think it should be for all German and non-German applicants to be fair. Even better would be to let these politicians take this test first and see if they are capable of passing it ?
I think we all should voice our concern collectively.

dude if u want to stay in someelses country you do need to show that you are enough aware of the surroundings. Its like a interview which company conducts while inducting new people ..
i guess its justified ... if u dnt like this ...maybe u shud be content with Your NE .

"They are now planning to take exams with 100 questions (about philosophy, politics) to any applicants."

Ehhm.. Could you please name us your resource ? (when possible with a link) I read somewhere is not good enough... sorry..

and on the other hand, dont take every political discussion seriously. Politicians(especially right wing) talk a lot but very few of their interesting "ideas" become reality. The fact is that SPD is one of the partners of the coalition and it is not that easy to pass "hard" laws in this context, when they are there.

Regards,

Lacrima

@stier

"dude if u want to stay in someelses country you do need to show that you are enough aware of the surroundings."

that is true, but at the same time someone can question the ability of native people as well, how can you expect aliens to know the things which you or your own people does'nt?

"Its like a interview which company conducts while inducting new people .."

but people who are making interview know the things already and even in the company they've people who are quite competetive.

"i guess its justified ... "

i don't think so, i think it should be for everyone who are not quite aware of surroundings.

"if u dnt like this ...maybe u shud be content with Your NE ."

do you really think so? i would get to the negotiations or compromise. i know someone some years ago said like this "if you want to stay, then stay otherwise go out" - a lady from south america.

"Firstly I think it should be for all German and non-German applicants to be fair", I think your sentence means, if someone tries to understand it "Firstly I think it should be for all German applicants and non-German applicants to be fair", right?
How come in the world you want German to apply for a German citizenship or did I get something wrong somewhere?

D.

Here are the examples of the questions:

1. What is the name of the German constitution ?

2. State the first few words of the German national Anthem

3. Name three German philosophers

4. Name three German low mountains

5. What are the names of German states (Bundesländer)

6. What is the name of the German highest legislation institution. Who defines the members in this institution ?

etc.

P.S. Source of the questions - morning show today on SAT1

The questions have nothing to do with being German or not, this is the matter of education.

Link to the news:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1934687,00.html

Hi,

These are the questions for the german citizenship test as published in the Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,406098,00.html

It all started when the netherlands decided to set-up compulsory testing for all Immigrants. They must pass a dutch language and culture test in their home country
(http://aufenthaltstitel.de/zuwg/1186.html, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,405859,00.html) which is taken and evaluated by a computer.

I think it's only fair, even the U.S. has had this test for years, and changing your nationality is not a decision to be taken lightly. Think about it, will you still want to be German, when Germany is full of old people, your pension is not enough to live, there is no healthcare, and the economy is in ruins? ( http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,404888,00.html), not that it is going to happen, but is something to think about.

Regards,
-a

Hi

I will sugggest ppl who go for such test just have look into this manual ...

http://www.handbuch-deutschland.de/index_en.html


regards


jose

I just watched a news item on Pro 7 .. where they asked (what they considered) simple questions from this questionnaire to normal Germans on the street and not even a single person could answer them.

That doesn't mean that I am against it or something, but it does raise a point, if its really logical to do all this, when the people who are born and brought up here themselves don't know the answers to these questions.

I guess it's fair. What I don't understand is why a german should apply for a german citizenship.. :-) It's like learning for a licence test. If u don't want licence , you dont have to learn it.. come on man.. be practical...:-))It's not logical I agree.. but thats the way it is...

@faisalm

"I guess it's fair. What I don't understand is why a german should apply for a german citizenship.."

i guess as well, but at the same time it should be for everyone who can't answer those questions.

"It's like learning for a licence test. If u don't want licence , you dont have to learn it.."

sure, but if the person who prepare the test does'nt know what he's asking or the answer or many who have the license and still can't answer those questions?

"come on man.. be practical...)"

i'm sure, many in here are quite practical.

"It's not logical I agree.. but thats the way it is..."

if you would accept everything by saying "that's-the-way-it-is", i just would pity you.

it was fun reading the list of questions..

90. In den deutschen Kinos startete 2004 der Film „Das Wunder von Bern“. Auf welches sportliche Ereignis nimmt er Bezug?

one of the so-called german symbols of patriotism - football!??...wat next, name the best hefeweizens, radlers, weissbiers of the land!??...though i must admit, they've been brave enuf to include Third Reich questions..

its quite simple, if u dont want non-europeans here, make it explicit, say it out loud and itl b much easier letting the laws of demography do its work..such measures are not going to make things easier for the suffocating economy or the cultural mismatches

"Firstly I think it should be for all German and non-German applicants to be fair."

Natives are supposed to get those knowledges in school. If they do not, some politicians should think about major changes in educational system ;)

"Even better would be to let these politicians take this test first and see if they are capable of passing it ?"

i saw some article in BILD about results of such a test. they passed it ;)

"90. In den deutschen Kinos startete 2004 der Film „Das Wunder von Bern“. Auf welches sportliche Ereignis nimmt er Bezug?"
"one of the so-called german symbols of patriotism - football!??"

It's a symbol of national pride, but not only because it has something to do with football. I would say date of event AND the identity of main opponent are much more important here

"wat next, name the best hefeweizens, radlers, weissbiers of the land!??"

Hi,

In my opinion, it could have been a good idea, if these questions stick to the info regarding Germany, without offensing/favoring a particular community.

I wonder, if even native Germans would find it normal to answer all/every question.

For a 3-WC(please read as 3rd World Country :-)) person, the Nationality is important because of ease in Travel/Visa difficulties.

So, just consider it another "Führerschein" :-)

A.T

"without offensing/favoring a particular community."

which questions - concrete - offense some community in Germany?

do not forget - politicians can not take in consideration opinions that were not made clear ;)

"So, just consider it another "Führerschein""

if only all people were free ... they all would think so ...

"
do not forget - politicians can not take in consideration opinions that were not made clear
"

I disagree that the politicians always take public opinion into consideration, while forwarding their personal/party agenda.

z.B. protests in Frankreich
Ongoing Wars to bring Demokratie...


A.T

@instructor

What do you mean by "it should be for everyone who can't answer the questions" Do you mean they should have this test for all germans? so that they r born with no citizenship and they only get it if they do the same test like us..?

Yes ... you can pity on me....but in the end .. if you want to get the german passport you have to do it anyway.. so thats really the way it is...

@faisalm

"Do you mean they should have this test for all germans?"

not for everyone, only the people who don't know the answers.

"so that they r born with no citizenship and they only get it if they do the same test like us..?"

no, it's to make sure that the people know about their own things (asked in the test) first. then they can test others.

"Yes ... you can pity on me...."

no, i would'nt do that. was just a joke.

"but in the end .. if you want to get the german passport you have to do it anyway.."

until now it worked, why not now?

"so thats really the way it is..."

i still cannot agree with your way of thinking.

Hi instructor,

I think you misunderstood my way of thinking. I don't say everything in life should be accepted the way it is. I mean we all fight for things where we could something right? But with this thing here...can we do anything against it other than saying its wrong? Most of the laws the politicians propose are not logical anyway right? I am doing my driving licence now..there are also questions there which is logical.. i mean you can't do some calculations based on the formula they give abt breaking distance while you are driving. You do it right because u will know it while your driving. But you have to do this for the test anyway. I just meant to say it doesn't matter if it's logical or not, but if it's going to be a law, then we can't do anything abt it. Thats all.

Regards
Fais

@faisalm

"I think you misunderstood my way of thinking."

no, that is wrong again ;)

"I don't say everything in life should be accepted the way it is."

yes, i think exactly same way as well.

"I mean we all fight for things where we could something right?"

not really, sometime when you don't have fun, then you can just stop fighting, though you want it in real.

"Most of the laws the politicians propose are not logical anyway right?"

no, not everything.

"I am doing my driving licence now.."

i'm sure, you've lot of fun! i'd infact.

"there are also questions there which is logical.. i mean you can't do some calculations based on the formula they give abt breaking distance while you are driving.You do it right because u will know it while your driving."

so finally you agree upon something can exist other than black and white.

"But you have to do this for the test anyway."

but you still can oppose the things.

"I just meant to say it doesn't matter if it's logical or not, but if it's going to be a law, then we can't do anything abt it."

we in germany needs to learn lot from "french people", not just simply accepting everything.

Thats all.

again, it's not true. there is lot more!

hi frens,
My 2cents thought on this issue....Keeping into consideration, most of the Germans are not able to answer most of the questions themselves and there are no such thing as revoking their citizenship. So, It would be appropriate that those foriegners(or anyone) who wrote and passed this test for citizenship, should be branded as "First class citizens(Germans). Coz they are the ones who has real knowledge about the Deutsches Fatherland:-).
Regards to everyone.

@bizzare..

:-)) Thats an excellent idea....lol

Hello Faisal,
The breaking distance question is perfectly logical. You get an idea that you need great distance to stop when you go faster say at 150 . Then distance to stop is 275m.(Did i get it right.I got my license in 2001. Memory kind of rusty :-)) . They need to drive it into your head. One way is by formulas. May not be obvious when you go inside the city but is helpful when you are on the express ways.
All the best for your license.