BERLIN, March 28 — What's the capital of Germany? Well, pretty much everybody knows that one. It's Berlin, of course.

But how about these questions: "Which convention gathered at St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt in 1848?" "Name three mountains in Germany." "Which German physicist revolutionized medical diagnosis in 1895?"

If you are a foreigner living in Germany and do not know that the National Assembly was the convention that gathered in 1848, or that the 1895 scientist was Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, you might not be able to become a German citizen — not, at least, if a new citizenship test for foreigners is adopted by the national government.

Lately it seems that just about everybody in this country is talking about the proposed citizenship test, which would add to an already fairly long list of requirements to become a German citizen. The test is favored by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country's main conservative parties but opposed by many on the left, as well as some experts on immigration.

The 100-question test, drawn up by the state of Hesse but being considered for nationwide use, has received a lot of comment, in part because of the widespread belief that many German university students would have trouble passing it, so how fair would it be to impose it on immigrants relatively unschooled in German culture?

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