The law states: “The beauty of the landscape must be protected.” Michael Roth, a scientist from Nürtingen, has been commissioned by the federal government to assess the beauty of an entire country. His task is to find out where Germany is most beautiful and where it is ugliest. In the Lower Rhine region, Ms. Köser played in the fields as a child, but now a huge hall is to be built there. In the Black Forest, Mr. Lutz is taking action against wind turbines on mountain tops. On the North Sea coast, Mr. Pohlmann is creating new, more beautiful landscapes. And Ms. Brodowy can no longer walk through the forest, which is now cut through by a highway. “The Map of Beauty” shows landscape as a political place, grown out of ongoing struggles for resources: recreation, money, identity, the future. A new map of Germany is emerging. It is more than an aesthetic description; it is the factual basis for decisions that affect us all. What should the world we live in be like?