Appenzell Inner Rhodes citizenship test

How Appenzell Innerrhoden checks your knowledge

Innerrhoden relies on an oral hearing. It takes place before the Law and Security Committee of the Grand Council (Grosser Rat), which hears you on behalf of the parliament. The committee assesses your knowledge of the system of government, culture and customs. No scoring scheme is published. On the committee’s proposal, the Grand Council decides on Landrecht (cantonal citizenship).

You can prepare with the naturalisation handout (Handreichung, version April 2026, 36 pages). It covers the Confederation, the canton, the districts, school and parish communities, the Feuerschaugemeinde (the special municipality of the village of Appenzell) and culture and customs. Sections highlighted in yellow are considered essential knowledge for the interview. Allow about one and a half years for the whole procedure.

What you should know about Appenzell Innerrhoden

• Districts instead of municipalities: What are political municipalities elsewhere are called districts (Bezirke) in Innerrhoden. Since 2022 there have been five: Appenzell, Schwende-Rüte, Schlatt-Haslen, Gonten and Oberegg. Oberegg is separate from the rest of the canton and surrounded by Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. With about 16,000 inhabitants, Innerrhoden is the least populous canton.
• Landsgemeinde: According to the constitution it is the supreme authority, and it meets on the last Sunday in April in Appenzell. Votes are cast by a show of hands, and men traditionally identify themselves by carrying a sword. Besides Glarus, Innerrhoden is the only canton with a Landsgemeinde. It elects the Standeskommission (government), the cantonal court and the member of the Council of States.
• Authorities: The government is called the Standeskommission and has seven members with old titles such as Säckelmeister for finance. The reigning and the «resting» Landammann alternate every two years. The Grand Council has 50 members and prepares the business of the Landsgemeinde. The cantonal court has 13 members. Innerrhoden has one seat in the Council of States.
• People’s rights: A single voter is enough for an initiative. 200 voters can demand a financial referendum within 30 days. The people of Innerrhoden mostly exercise their rights at assemblies: the Landsgemeinde, the district assembly and the parish assembly (Kirchhöri). Women only gained the right to vote at cantonal level through a Federal Supreme Court ruling of 27 November 1990.
• History: Appenzell was admitted as the 13th member in 1513 and split in 1597 after the Reformation; Innerrhoden remained Catholic. The word «Rhode» comes from the Latin «rota», an old administrative unit. In 2024 the Landsgemeinde adopted a new constitution, the first since 1872.
• Nature: The Alpstein is a geologically unique limestone massif. The borders of the two Appenzells and St. Gallen meet on the Säntis. Typical are scattered settlements of single farms, where the house and the barn stand at right angles.
• Customs: From the end of May farmers drive their cattle up to the alpine pastures in a fixed order (Alpfahrt), in summer the herders invite people to the Stobede with music and dancing, and the cattle show (Viehschau) follows in early October. The men’s herders’ costume includes yellow leather trousers and a red waistcoat («Liibli»). String music is played with two violins, cello, bass and hammered dulcimer, and the yodel is called Ruggusseli. Corpus Christi is the most splendid church festival, and the patron saint is Saint Maurice.

The naturalisation process in Appenzell Innerrhoden

First you submit a CV to the naturalisation secretariat at the civil registry office in Appenzell. You then receive the forms in person. Municipal citizenship is held by the two parts of the canton, the inner part and Oberegg. The Law and Security Committee checks the requirements and hears you, and on its proposal the Grand Council decides on Landrecht. As in all cantons, the federal naturalisation permit from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is also needed.

The residence rule is five years in the canton, the last two without interruption before applying. German skills and familiarity with local ways of life, customs and traditions are required. The fees are not published online; the naturalisation secretariat provides information.

How to prepare

The handout is your most important resource. Read it in full and learn the sections highlighted in yellow particularly thoroughly. Because the hearing takes place before a parliamentary committee, you should be able to answer confidently and in full sentences.

Innerrhoden is proud of its traditions, and that shows in the questions. So do not only learn authorities and numbers, but also the customs: what happens at the Landsgemeinde, what is a Stobede, when is the cattle show? If you take part in life in the canton, you can answer such questions from your own experience.

With the practice questions and the mock test on this page you can check your knowledge before the hearing.