Written + oral
Written by us from the ARGE booklets and the cantonal laws — written ARGE test; no public catalogue
Written from the official content. The federal part uses official questions. Other questions are possible at the exam. Question count and duration are estimates (not published).
Study questions authored from the official ARGE civics booklets — not the real test questions. The exam is written; the question count and pass mark are not published by the canton (estimated values).
Real exam — How the test works
Every exam mixes cantonal and federal questions. The cantonal ones were written by US, from the official ARGE booklets and the canton's laws (constitution, citizenship act, referendum and initiative act); for history, geography and society, where those texts are silent, from public sources (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). The federal ones are official, taken in German from the Zurich test. The real ARGE test is written, but the canton publishes neither the questions nor the count or threshold: the number of questions, the threshold and the duration are our estimates, aligned with the German-speaking written tests (Zurich, Aargau, Bern). These are not the questions of the real St. Gallen test.
In every ordinary naturalisation, the municipality holds a binding naturalisation interview (BRV Art. 7) — it tests knowledge AND integration, freely structured, without a published list of questions. It is the element prescribed canton-wide (the written test, by contrast, is municipal/optional).
Reicht von einem formellen Einbürgerungsrat-Gespräch (Stadt SG) bis zur Abstimmung an der Gemeindeversammlung (Oberriet/Rheintal — ~jede zweite Person über neun Jahre abgelehnt; das Verwaltungsgericht erzwang wiederholt Einbürgerungen).
DAS mündliche Einbürgerungsgespräch ist das gesetzlich UNIVERSELLE Element: BRV Art. 7 verlangt von jeder Gemeinde eine « Zusammenfassung des Einbürgerungsgesprächs » in jedem ordentlichen Verfahren. (Umgekehrt zum schriftlichen Test, der diskretionär/kommunal ist.)
| Topic | federal | cantonal | same topic, any level | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democracy & Federalism | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| Geography | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| History | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Social welfare & Civil society | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Total | 20 | 20 | 5 | 45 |
Sample questions
Wann wurde der heutige Kanton St.Gallen gegründet?
Geschichte · cantonal question
Auf wessen Befehl wurde der Kanton St.Gallen 1803 gegründet?
Geschichte · cantonal question
Wie wird der Kanton St.Gallen wegen seiner Gründung 1803 bezeichnet?
Geschichte · cantonal question
Welchen Status hatten die Fürstabtei St.Gallen und das Toggenburg vor 1803?
Geschichte · cantonal question
Welche Industrie prägte im 19. Jahrhundert vor allem den nördlichen Kantonsteil?
Geschichte · cantonal question
In wie viele politische Ebenen ist die Schweiz gegliedert?
Democracy and Federalism
Welcher Kanton grenzt an Deutschland?
Geografie
Welche ist die meistgesprochene Landessprache der Schweiz?
Geografie
Questions and correct answers come from the canton's official questionnaire. Where the original is an open question, the three wrong answers are ours.
Simulated written exam
75 communes in the canton
No commune matches.
Written (MCQ). Written from the official content. The federal part uses official questions. Other questions are possible at the exam. Question count and duration are estimates (not published).
45 questions (estimate) · 60 min (estimate) · 27 correct answers out of 45 to pass (estimate).
The official source is www.arge.ch, published by Amt für Gemeinden und Bürgerrecht. The app prepares you for it free of charge — Written from official sources. ↗
Yes. The app is free, with no ads and no sign-up required, on iOS and Android.
Each canton sets its own exam. These pages say what each one asks, from the canton's own published material.
Swiss Naturalization Test
Aargau
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Stadt
Bern
Fribourg
Geneva
Glarus
Grisons
Jura
Lucerne
Neuchâtel
Nidwalden
Obwalden
Schaffhausen
Schwyz
Solothurn
Thurgau
Ticino
Uri
Valais
Vaud
Zug
Zurich