The first part of the series shows the Thuringian Forest. It is one of the largest forest areas in Germany. Mountain landscapes, meadows, valleys and bodies of water offer a varied natural experience. Thuringia is considered Germany's green heart. Over a third of its land area is covered by forest. In the west of the Free State lies the Thuringian Forest, a low mountain range almost 1,000 meters high, stretching from the Werra in the north-west to the Franconian Forest in the south-east. Not only squirrels and raccoons feel comfortable in the dense, partly original forests. The rare black storks have also settled here again. Red kites build their nests in the canopy, and even the shy wild cat finds enough cover here. European hamsters are still very numerous in the Thuringian Basin, one of the oldest cultural landscapes in Germany. It is one of the last refuges of the endangered rodents in Europe. Thuringia is famous for its castles. The best known is the Wartburg near Eisenach.

Lakes and hills, rivers and moors, extensive forests, fields and meadows - that's the Uckermark. In the north-east of Brandenburg, 80 kilometers from Berlin and in the direct vicinity of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Poland, it is the largest district in Germany with over 3,000 square kilometers. Best conditions for nature: 60 percent of the Uckermark is under protection - in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve in the south, in the Lower Oder Valley National Park in the east and in the Uckermark Lakes Nature Park in the north-west. As if on an ark, one encounters a particularly large number of rare animal and plant species in the Uckermark: eagles breed in the Waldmark, otters hunt for trout and lampreys in clear rivers, beavers dam streams into lakes, badgers, raccoon dogs and foxes live together with deer and Deer in the field mark. Above all, however, the varied landscape, shaped by the Ice Age, is the crane metropolis of Europe.

The fourth episode in the series is dedicated to the Main. The river, which flows across Germany from east to west for more than 500 kilometers, is a reflection of German nature: tamed and yet unruly. Nowhere else can you see the power of life and the power of nature better. The Main is affectionately called the white sausage equator. In fact, it winds its way through Germany in many twists and turns over 542 kilometers from east to west. From the Fichtelgebirge to Mainz. It is the second longest river that flows along its entire length in Germany. At the same time, the Main is one of the most misunderstood rivers in the country. Because which images do you associate with the Main? The skyline of Frankfurt? The vineyards around Würzburg? The general image of the Main is shaped by the economic miracle after the Second World War. Back then progress meant everything, nature nothing. As a result, the Main looked more like a cesspool than a river in the 1960s and 1970s.

Blue lakes surrounded by forest, lovely bays, wild solitude: in the north of Brandenburg there are lakes whose clarity is reminiscent of crystals. More than 100 of them are in the Stechlin-Ruppiner Land nature park. Above all the Stechlin east of Rheinsberg. It is 69 meters deep, particularly clear and one of the best-researched lakes. Sunbeams play on the backs of silver perch many meters below the surface. In the thicket of riparian vegetation, pike lurk in wait for the right moment to strike at lightning speed. When the water warms up in spring, several male pike will court a female. At his side, they animate the chosen one to give up eggs, scenes that have never been filmed like this before. Large, partly swampy forests surround the Stechlin and shield it from of modern agriculture. Slurry and fertilizers hardly get into the lake. The forest not only protects the lake, one of the fastest birds in the world has recently started breeding here again: the peregrine falcon.

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