Flickr: mprinke

Despite what you might think, the fact that the words “Germany” and “green” both begin with “g” is more than just an interesting linguistic coincidence based on English taking the Latin Germania for Germany and saving the native Deutsch for describing the Dutch. No: even shrouded in winter snow, Germany is a green, green country – and we’re not just talking pine forests and verdant hillsides, either, as numerous and pleasant as they may be.

Politcally, too, Germany is a deep shade of green. A little over thirty years ago, the world’s first ever ecological political party was formed in Germany, and they called themselves Die Grünen, or “the Greens”. So it was Germany that gave the world the name, which has entered into most European languages in translation; and Germany is a leader in “Greenness” today.