Einbürgerungstest Bavaria: the 10 state questions

The white-and-blue lozenges are the best-known symbol of Bavaria (Bayern). Originally the Counts of Bogen bore this coat of arms, documented since 1204. After their line died out, the Wittelsbachs took over their inheritance in 1247, and with it the lozenges. Because the Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria until 1918, the lozenges became the symbol of the whole state.

Today the Act on the Coat of Arms of the Free State of Bavaria of 5 June 1950 governs the state coats of arms. The small state coat of arms shows the lozenge shield with the so-called people's crown. The large state coat of arms is divided into four fields that stand for regions of the state: the golden lion for the Upper Palatinate, the Franconian rake for Franconia, the blue panther for Old Bavaria and the three black lions for Swabia. In the centre, the lozenge shield sits again as the central escutcheon.

So you recognise the Bavarian coat of arms by the white-and-blue lozenges, in its large form too.

A district (Landkreis) is an association of several municipalities. It takes on tasks that would be too big for a single municipality, such as district roads, waste disposal or vehicle registration. It is run by the district office. At its head is the district administrator (Landrat), who is directly elected. There is also the district council (Kreistag), an elected body.

Bavaria (Bayern) has 71 districts and 25 independent cities. Independent cities such as Munich, Nuremberg or Augsburg belong to no district and carry out these tasks themselves. The present division goes back to the territorial reform of the 1970s, which cut the number of districts from 143 to 71. Above the districts stand the seven administrative regions, for example Upper Bavaria, to which the district of Altötting also belongs.

This matters for naturalisation: in Bavaria you submit the application to the district office or, if you live in an independent city, to the city administration. It is decided by the government of your administrative region.

The state parliament (Landtag) is the parliament of the Free State. It passes the state laws and the budget and elects the Minister-President (Ministerpräsident). Its members are elected for five years. The new election must take place no earlier than 59 and no later than 62 months after the last election (Article 16 of the Bavarian Constitution).

This was not always so: until 1998 a legislative term lasted four years. On 8 February 1998 the citizens approved an amendment to the constitution in a referendum. It lengthened the legislative term and at the same time abolished the Bavarian Senate (Senat). This Senate was a second chamber that the constitution of 1946 had provided for. Since 1 January 2000 Bavaria (Bayern) has had only one chamber of parliament. The seat of the state parliament is the Maximilianeum in Munich.

In local elections, the municipal or city council (Gemeinderat) and the district council (Kreistag) are elected. So are mayors and district administrators (Landräte). In Bavaria (Bayern) you can vote from the age of 18 (Article 1 of the Municipal and District Elections Act). That makes the voting age in Bavaria higher than in many other federal states (Länder), where it is 16.

In local elections it is not only Germans who can vote: citizens of other EU states who live in the municipality are also entitled to vote (Article 28 of the Basic Law, Grundgesetz). This does not apply in state and federal elections; for those you need German citizenship.

The state colours of Bavaria (Bayern) are white and blue. This is set out in Article 1 of the Bavarian Constitution. They go back to the lozenges in the coat of arms. Two forms are in use as a flag: the striped flag with one white and one blue horizontal stripe, and the lozenge flag with the white-and-blue lozenge pattern.