diff --git a/qanary_commons/pom.xml b/qanary_commons/pom.xml
index e1142957..a435f93c 100644
--- a/qanary_commons/pom.xml
+++ b/qanary_commons/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>eu.wdaqua.qanary</groupId>
     <artifactId>qa.commons</artifactId>
-    <version>3.16.1</version>
+    <version>3.17.1</version>
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
diff --git a/qanary_commons/src/test/java/qa/commons/QanaryQueryTest.java b/qanary_commons/src/test/java/qa/commons/QanaryQueryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db4ab127
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qanary_commons/src/test/java/qa/commons/QanaryQueryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+package qa.commons;
+
+import static java.util.Map.entry;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.jena.graph.impl.LiteralLabel;
+import org.apache.jena.query.Query;
+import org.apache.jena.query.QueryFactory;
+import org.apache.jena.shared.impl.PrefixMappingImpl;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.algebra.Algebra;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.algebra.Op;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.algebra.OpAsQuery;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.core.TriplePath;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.syntax.ElementFilter;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.syntax.ElementPathBlock;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.syntax.ElementVisitorBase;
+import org.apache.jena.sparql.syntax.ElementWalker;
+
+
+public class QanaryQueryTest {
+    
+    // static default prefixMapping that may be used to instantiate these Tests
+    public static Map<String, String> COMMON_PREFIXES = Map.ofEntries(
+        entry("oa", "http://www.w3.org/ns/openannotation/core/"),
+        entry("wdt", "http://www.wikidata.org/prop/direct/"),
+        entry("rdfs", "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"),
+        entry("bd", "http://www.bigdata.com/rdf#"),
+        entry("wikibase", "http://wikiba.se/ontology#")
+    );
+
+	private final PrefixMappingImpl prefixMapping; 
+
+    /**
+     * @param prefixMapping use QanaryQueryTest.COMMON_PREFIXES or define your own prefix mappings. 
+     */
+	public QanaryQueryTest(Map<String, String> prefixMapping) {
+        this.prefixMapping = new PrefixMappingImpl();
+        this.prefixMapping.setNsPrefixes(prefixMapping);
+	}
+
+    //
+    // TEST METHODS
+    //
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that two supplied queries have equal string representations.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param expectedGraph
+     */
+	public void isSparqlQueryEqual(String expectedQueryString, String actualQueryString) {
+		Query expectedParsedQuery = QueryFactory.create(expectedQueryString);
+        Op expectedOp = Algebra.compile(expectedParsedQuery);
+        Query expectedQueryAlgebra = OpAsQuery.asQuery(expectedOp);
+
+		Query actualParsedQuery = QueryFactory.create(actualQueryString);
+        Op actualOp = Algebra.compile(actualParsedQuery);
+        Query actualQueryAlgebra = OpAsQuery.asQuery(actualOp);
+
+		assertEquals(expectedQueryAlgebra.serialize(), actualQueryAlgebra.serialize(), 
+                "The queries do not match");
+	}
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that the supplied query contains a specific graph.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param expectedGraph
+     */
+    public void queryContainsGraph(String queryString, String expectedGraph) {
+        ParsedQueryContent parsedQueryContent = this.parseQueryContent(queryString);
+        assertTrue(parsedQueryContent.getGraphs().stream().anyMatch(
+                    o -> expectedGraph.equals(o.toString())), 
+                "The query does not contain the specified graph");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that the supplied query contains a FILTER statement with specific key and value.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param expectedKey a variable name
+     * @param expectedValue a URI or literal as String
+     */
+    public void queryContainsFilterKeyValuePair(String queryString, String expectedKey, String expectedValue) {
+        ParsedQueryContent parsedQueryContent = this.parseQueryContent(queryString);
+        assertTrue(parsedQueryContent.getFilters().stream().anyMatch( 
+                    o -> (o.toString().contains(expectedKey) 
+                    && o.toString().contains(expectedValue))),
+                "The query does not contain a FILTER statement with the specified key-value pair");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that the supplied query contains a specific triple.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param subject a URI string or variable name
+     * @param predicate a URI string or variable name
+     * @param object a URI string or variable name
+     */
+    public void queryContainsTriple(String queryString, String subject, String predicate, String object) {
+        ParsedQueryContent parsedQueryContent = this.parseQueryContent(queryString);
+        assertTrue(parsedQueryContent.getTriples().stream().anyMatch(
+                    o -> (subject.equals(o.getSubject().toString(this.prefixMapping)))
+                    && predicate.equals(o.getPredicate().toString(this.prefixMapping))
+                    && object.equals(o.getObject().toString(this.prefixMapping))),
+                "The query does not contain the specified triple");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that the supplied query contains a specific triple.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param subject a URI string or variable name
+     * @param predicate a URI string or variable name 
+     * @param object a literal with lexical form, datatype IRI and optionally a language tag
+     */
+    public void queryContainsTriple(String queryString, String subject, String predicate, LiteralLabel object) {
+        ParsedQueryContent parsedQueryContent = this.parseQueryContent(queryString);
+        assertTrue(parsedQueryContent.getTriples().stream().anyMatch(
+                    o -> (subject.equals(o.getSubject().toString(this.prefixMapping)))
+                    && predicate.equals(o.getPredicate().toString(this.prefixMapping))
+                    && object.equals(o.getObject().getLiteral())),
+                "The query does not contain the specified triple");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Assert that the supplied query contains a specific triple.
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     * @param subject a literal with lexical form, datatype IRI and optionally a language tag
+     * @param predicate a URI string or variable name 
+     * @param object a URI string or variable name
+     */
+    public void queryContainsTriple(String queryString, LiteralLabel subject, String predicate, String object) {
+        ParsedQueryContent parsedQueryContent = this.parseQueryContent(queryString);
+        assertTrue(parsedQueryContent.getTriples().stream().anyMatch(
+                    o -> (subject.equals(o.getSubject().getLiteral()))
+                    && predicate.equals(o.getPredicate().toString(this.prefixMapping))
+                    && object.equals(o.getObject().toString(this.prefixMapping))),
+                "The query does not contain the specified triple");
+
+    }
+
+    //
+    // CONTENT PARSING
+    // 
+
+    /** Parses the query to extract graphs, filters and triples.
+     * This does not work for INSERT queries (all update queries)
+     *
+     * @param queryString
+     */
+    private ParsedQueryContent parseQueryContent(String queryString) {
+        List<String> graphs = new LinkedList<>();
+        List<String> filters = new LinkedList<>();
+        List<TriplePath> triples = new LinkedList<>();
+
+        Query query = QueryFactory.create(queryString);
+        graphs  = query.getGraphURIs();
+        ElementWalker.walk(query.getQueryPattern(), 
+            new ElementVisitorBase() {
+                // for visiting Filter statements
+                public void visit(ElementFilter filter) {
+                    filters.add(filter.getExpr().toString());
+                }
+                // for visiting a block of Triples
+                public void visit(ElementPathBlock el) {
+                    // iterate of all Triples in the block
+                    Iterator<TriplePath> triplePaths = el.patternElts();
+                    while (triplePaths.hasNext()) {
+                        TriplePath triple = triplePaths.next();
+                        triples.add(triple);
+                    }
+                } 
+            }
+        );
+        return new ParsedQueryContent(graphs, filters, triples);
+    }
+
+    // holds parsed query elements 
+	private class ParsedQueryContent {
+        private List<String> graphs = new LinkedList<>();
+        private List<String> filters = new LinkedList<>();
+        private List<TriplePath> triples = new LinkedList<>();
+
+        public ParsedQueryContent(List<String> graphs, List<String> filters, List<TriplePath> triples) {
+            this.graphs = graphs;
+            this.filters = filters;
+            this.triples = triples;
+        }
+
+        public List<String> getGraphs() {
+            return graphs;
+        }
+
+        public List<String> getFilters() {
+            return filters;
+        }
+
+        public List<TriplePath> getTriples() {
+            return triples;
+        }
+    }
+}