Germany Government Trivia

1. The 1st president had the tough duty of becoming the first head of state of the newly founded Federal Republic in 1949. This liberal politician was a member of the board that elaborated and introduced the constitution. Who was it?

From Quiz The Presidents of Germany

Answer: Theodor Heuss

Theodor Heuss was born on January 31st 1884 in Brackenheim. He first was a member of the Progressive People's Party, then joined the German Democratic Party until eventually becoming a member of the liberal FDP. In 1949, he became the first president of the newly founded republic, beating the Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher. Defending his office in 1954, he received an overwhelming total of 871 out of 1018 votes, leaving seven opponents with no chance. When he was first elected, he tried to enforce a new national anthem for the new republic, claiming that the old one, abused by the Nazis, would no longer fit a democracy. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer obviated the new anthem and enforced that the third stanza of the anthem would become the official anthem. Knowing that he was defeated, Heuss well tempered accepted the decision. Although he would have been appreciated in office for a third term, he declined that, stating that this third term would require a change of the constitution which he had worked on. Heuss died on December 12th 1963 in Stuttgart.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Chancellor

While most countries have a "Prime Minister" or "President" as their top dog, in Germany it was the chancellor. Oberbürgermeister translates into "Lord Mayor".

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Bundestag

Since the mid 1990s the Bundestag and Bundesrat meet in the old Reichstag building in Berlin. The Bundesrat is the upper chamber and the Bundeswehr is the German military.

From Quiz German Government

Answer: Bundestag

The Bundestag is the lower house. I visited the old Bundestag in Bonn!

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: West Germany

Germany since 1945 had been split into 2, West and East Germany. West Germany become a democratically elected state, while the Soviets controlled East Germany in a communist dictatorship.

From Quiz German Government

Answer: Bundesrat

The Bundesrat is the upper house. The member are not elected, but appointed by 'state' governments.

From Quiz The Presidents of Germany

Answer: Resign from his office

Gustav Heinemann, born on July 23rd 1899 in Schwelm, started his political career as a member of the CDU. He was mayor of Essen from 1946 to 1949. In 1949 he became Federal Ministry of the Interior. A year later, he resigned from his office when Konrad Adenauer agreed to the Wiederbewaffnung (rearmament) of Germany. In 1952, he left the CDU and became a founder of the short-lived All-German People's Party that broke up again in 1957 due to lack of success. Finding a new political home in the SPD in 1957, he became a member of the Bundestag again and held the office of Federal Ministry of Justice from 1966 to 1969. In 1969 he eventually became President of Germany, serving a full term until 1974. Although he likely would have been voted for a second term in office, he declined due to his age and his declining health. Heinemann died on July 7th 1976 in Essen.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Christian Democratic Union

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was the main centre-right party in West Germany and in the united Germany. The CDU's sister party in the south German region of Bavaria were the Christian Social Union (CSU). It had allied and formed coalitions with the CDU since 1945. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was the main centre-left party in West Germany and in the united Germany. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) was a liberal party, however, it believed in a free market. It was the third party in West Germany, and in reunited Germany, and had been important playmakers in elections as coalition partners. The Greens, a pro-enviromentalist party, later merged with the East German "Alliance 90" or "Bündnis 90" in 1990.

From Quiz German Government

Answer: Bonn

Bonn was the capital, after reunification the capital of Germany moved to Berlin.

From Quiz The Presidents of Germany

Answer: Chancellor

Walter Scheel, born on July 8th 1919 in Solingen, joined the liberal party (since 1948 called FDP) in 1946. He became a member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1950 and kept his mandate until 1954. In 1953 he also became a member of the Bundestag, a mandate he held until becoming president in 1974. From 1969 to 1974 he was Foreign Minister of Germany and Vice-Chancellor. After Willy Brandt had resigned from his office on May 7th 1974, Scheel was provisional chancellor for nine days until Helmut Schmidt was elected as new chancellor. On May 15th 1974 he was elected as president, beating Richard von Weizsäcker (CDU) and started his term as President of Germany on July 1st 1974.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: 1990

The reunification was in 1990, usually confused with 1989, which was the year which saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: A political party must secure 5% of the national vote before a deputy can take his seat in the Bundestag

The "sperrklausel" is not unique to Germany. The idea is to limit the number of political parties that come into Parliament and to enhance stability. It is a direct result of the disastrous Weimar Republic days when it is thought that the proliferation of political parties helped destabilize the government and allow the Nazis to come to power in 1933.

From Quiz German Government

Answer: Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was created after WWI and came before Hitler's reign.

From Quiz The Presidents of Germany

Answer: Karl Carstens

Karl Carstens, born on Dezember 14th 1914 in Bremen, studied Law and Political science at several universities and became an accomplished attorney and a Doctor of Laws. In 1948, he started studying at the Yale university, achieving the degree of Master of Law in 1949. He became a member of the Bundestag in 1972. From 1973 to 1976 he was the leader of the opposition in Bundestag. After the federal election of 1976, he was elected as President of the Bundestag. Richard Stücklen followed him into the office after Carstens had to resign from his mandate in parliament to become president. In 1979, he was the nominee in the presidential election for the CDU, winning against the Social Democrat Annemarie Renger who was his only competition. He turned down the chance of serving a second term in office due to his age. Carstens died on May 30th 1992.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Gerhard Schröder

By this point Kohl's government was tired, and despite in a period of economic boom, unemployment was still depressingly high in East Germany at 18%. Kohl promised in 1990, East Germany would be transformed within 4 years.

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Ostpolitik

Ostpolitik or eastern policy can be arguably called one of the first thaws in the Cold War. This was a major departure from the Hallstein Doctrine which governed FRG foreign policy the adoption of the Brandt policy and stated that any country that recognized the GDR would not be recognized by the Federal Republic.

From Quiz German Government

Answer: Proportional Representation

The Weimar Republic had proportional representation - it was 'the thing' to do according to political scientists of the day.

From Quiz The Presidents of Germany

Answer: Berlin

Berlin is the only city in Germany that calls the office of its mayor "Regierender Bürgermeister". Until 1948, the office was called Oberbürgermeister, as usual in cities, until the Soviets installed an Oberbürgermeister in East-Berlin which lead to the change of the detonation of the office in West-Berlin. Von Weizsäcker (born on April 15th 1920 in Stuttgart) was the Regierender Bürgermeister of Berlin from 1981 to 1984.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Greying hair, rotund and wears glasses

He was a true "political heavyweight".

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Ludwig Erhard

Herr Erhard was probably known for his role in this accomplishment as much as during his tenure as Finance Minister as Federal Chancellor

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Schmidt was Chancellor of West Germany and lead a SPD-FDP coalition from 1974-1982. Willy Brandt was another Chancellor of West Germany from the SPD party, 1969-1974. Karl Carstens was President of Germany from 1979-1984. He was a member of the CDU. François Mitterrand was the President of France 1981-1995.

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Basic Law or Grundgesetz

The Basic Law was established in 1949. The new Federal Government of Germany decided that they would not call it a constitution until the country was united again. Even after unification they have maintained the old name of Basic Law with only minor amendments. The Weimar Constitution is long since defunct (for practical reasons we can date it's demise with the Enabling Laws by the Nazis in 1933). The Dawes Plan was designed to help Germany escape from the economic misery of the early/mid 1920s. Dawes became a Nobel Prize winner and Vice President under President Calvin Coolidge.

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Helmut Schmidt

Konrad Adenauer was a Christian Democratic Party (CDU), former Mayor of Cologne and first Chancellor of the Federal Republic. Heinrich Bruening was a late Weimar Republic Chancellor. Kurt Schumacher was the leader of the SPD in the 1950s.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: France

Kohl met French President François Mitterrand in Verdun. It is thought this relationship helped progress to the currency of the euro and what was to become the EU (European Union).

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1966-69

Wehner was the former leader of the West German Communist Party. Genscher was the longest serving Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic and Heuss served as Federal President from 1949-59.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Bonn Economic Summit

World leaders from Britain, Japan, USA, France, Italy, Canada and the President of the Commission of the European Community, met with Kohl at this Summit.

From Quiz Politics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Answer: Bonn

The capital of the FRG was officially moved back to Berlin in April of 1999 when the Bundestag opened it's session in the Reichstag building. In recognition that some Federal government offices remain in Bonn it has been designated a "Bundesstadt" or Federal City. Until the collapse of the old German Democratic Republic, East Berlin was designated as it's capital.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Johannes Rau

In this election campaign, Johannes Rau ruled out any coalition with the Greens, leaving only the FDP, but after the shenanigans of 1982, their preferred partner was now the CDU/CSU. Oskar Lafontaine was the SPD candidate for Chancellor in 1990. Roman Herzog was President of Germany 1994-1999. He fought against Johannes Rau for the presidency in 1994. He was a CDU politician. Christina Rau is the wife of Johannes Rau. She was 25 years his senior, and was the First Lady of Germany from 1999-2004. Johannes Rau finally became President of Germany in 1999.

From Quiz Helmut Kohl's Germany 1982 - 1998

Answer: Ostpolitik

This led to the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of West and East Germany. Kohl met East German Communist leader Erich Honecker in 1987.

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