WrittenOfficial questions
Grundkenntnistest — Zurich's official catalogue
The official exam questions, unchanged. Every possible question is here. Question count and duration are estimates (not published).
Indicative number. The canton does not publish the official number of questions.
Estimated duration. The exact time is not published by the canton.
Indicative threshold. The canton does not publish the official passing threshold.
Real exam — How the test works
Real exam: questions drawn from this pool, on screen. These are the real official Grundkenntnistest questions — the actual draw also includes commune-specific questions absent from this pool.
In Zurich, knowledge is NOT tested orally: since the 2023 reform, municipalities may no longer check basic knowledge in an interview and must use the test instead. A naturalisation interview may still take place, but as an integration interview (among other things, protection of minors) — voluntary and increasingly rare.
Gespräche rückläufig: von 71 % (2022) auf 51 % (2025) der Gemeinden; Motivationsschreiben von 7 % auf 41 %.
| Topic | federal | cantonal | same topic, any level | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democracy & Federalism | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Social welfare & Civil society | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| History | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Geography | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Culture & Everyday life | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Total | 15 | 15 | 20 | 50 |
Sample questions
Wie heisst eine Direktion des Kanton Zürichs?
Democracy and Federalism · cantonal question
Wie heisst in der Stadt Zürich die Exekutive?
Democracy and Federalism · cantonal question
Was ist eine Aufgabe des Kantons Zürich?
Democracy and Federalism · cantonal question
Wie können im Kanton Zürich auch Personen ohne Schweizer Pass politisch aktiv werden?
Democracy and Federalism · cantonal question
Für was sind die Kantone vor allem zuständig?
Democracy and Federalism · cantonal question
Die Schweiz ist neutral. Was heisst das?
Democracy and Federalism
Was ist eine Grenzgängerin oder ein Grenzgänger?
Democracy and Federalism
Confoederatio Helvetica ...
Democracy and Federalism
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
160 communes in the canton
No commune matches.
« Für eine ordentliche Einbürgerung im Kanton Zürich braucht es Kenntnisse über die Schweiz, den Kanton Zürich und das Zürcher Gemeindewesen. »
www.zh.ch ↗
Written (MCQ). The official exam questions, unchanged. Every possible question is here. Question count and duration are estimates (not published).
50 questions (estimate) · 60 min (estimate) · 30 correct answers out of 50 to pass (estimate).
The official source is www.zh.ch, published by Kanton Zürich, Gemeindeamt. The app prepares you for it free of charge — Official questions. ↗
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.