Have you always wanted to visit a wind farm? Or spend a day at the recycling plant with the family? Apparently a lot of Germans have: A new guidebook covering 200 green projects around the country sold out its first printing.
Add that to the list of things I do not understand about Germany. I mean, the country is littered with castles, they’ve got the alps, the Black Forest, a 500-year-old beer hall every three blocks, and half the dudes over there have mustaches like this. Hell, their whole damn country is so cute we build our amusement parks to look like their regular streets and fill them with oompah bands.
Of course, all this must make Germans jaded. So maybe it makes sense to add a little green learnin’ to the holiday itinerary.
Komila Nabiyeva at The Guardian makes a pretty good case:
If you want to combine some mildly energetic activity with your environmental sightseeing, then head for Lower Saxony where you’ll find the Holtriem wind farm. The largest in Europe when it was built, with a total capacity of 90 MW, it has an observation platform on one of the turbines, 65 metres above ground. That offers tourists – if they’re prepared to climb the 297 steps to the top – a stunning view of the North Sea and, in good weather, the East Frisian islands.
Also in Lower Saxony is Juehnde, the first German village to achieve full energy self-sufficiency. Its combined heat and power plant produces twice as much energy as Juehnde needs. The villagers are so keen to share their experience that they built a new energy centre to win over visitors.
Vacations are often about national pride, and Germany has quite a bit to be proud of in its thriving green economy. Visiting a nuclear power plant with a teacup ride instead of plutonium sounds pretty rad. And then there’s the Reichstag, with its tower of mirror-powered illumination, solar panels, geothermal energy, and flat out gorgeous blend more-than-modern architecture with an original building that’s 120 years old. It should be on everyone’s must-see list.
Come to think of it, maybe Disney World should take a few pointers. This thing would look awesome covered in solar panels.
