Q 01/05

Which German-born physicist developed the theory of relativity?

A) Max Planck

B) Albert Einstein

C) Werner Heisenberg

D) Otto Hahn

Answer · why

B) Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein became famous for relativity, yet his 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for his law of the photoelectric effect instead.

Q 02/05

Which major river flows through the German cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf?

A) Elbe

B) Rhine

C) Danube

D) Main

Answer · why

B) Rhine

The Rhine flows past the Lorelei rock, where Heinrich Heine's poem imagined a siren whose song made boatmen crash.

Q 03/05

Who led the Soviet Union when the Berlin Wall fell?

A) Brezhnev

B) Khrushchev

C) Gorbachev

D) Yeltsin

Answer · why

C) Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev declined to intervene militarily as Eastern Europe abandoned communism, and he won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.

Q 04/05

What Munich festival is celebrated with pretzels and lederhosen?

A) Fasching

B) Christmas Market

C) Oktoberfest

D) Cannstatter Wasen

Answer · why

C) 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 Oc...

Q 05/05

Which is the least populous of Germany's 16 federal states?

A) Saarland

B) Bremen

C) Schleswig-Holstein

D) Thuringia

Answer · why

B) Bremen

Bremen is two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven, and in the fairy tale the Town Musicians of Bremen never actually get there.