Detail of a banana leaf, Mainau Island, Germany (© Egon Bömsch /Age footstock)

Aerial shot of a nursery garden with geometrically pruned trees near Leer, Germany (© Karl Johaentges/Getty Images)

Wild piglets in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (© Gerhard Schulz/age fotostock)

Maypole in front of a church in Wolnzach, Bavaria, Germany (© Guenter Rossenbach/Corbis)

Unterfallengrundhof farmhouse through the morning mist near Gütenbach, Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (© PS Belenos/Huber/4Corners)

Close-up of bumper cars in Stuttgart, Germany (© Panoramic Images/Getty Images)

Snow-covered winter landscape in Bavaria, Germany (© Fischer/Photolibrary)

Berlin Cathedral with artful illumination during the Festival of Lights in Berlin, Germany (© Axel Schmies/Age Fotostock)

Oktoberfest tent, Spatenbräu, Munich, Germany (© Bodo Schieren/Photolibrary) ©

Town Hall in Hanover, Germany (© Scholz F. Collection/Arco Images/Age Fotostock) ©

Interior view of SMA Solar Technology in Niestetal, Germany -- Michael Melford/Corbis ©

Georg-Brauchle-Rin U-Bahn station in Munich, Germany -- Christian Beirle González/Getty Images ©

River Rhine near Xanten, Germany – Hans-Peter Merten/Robert Harding Picture Library/age fotostock ©

Young common crane (Grus grus) in nest, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ,Germany -- Franz Christoph Robil/age fotostock ©

Grey seal on the beach near Helgoland, Germany -- Hinrich Baesemann/Corbis ©

Altensteig in Baden-Württemberg, Germany -- Edmund Nagele PCL/Superstock ©

Lindau Harbor, with lighthouse and lion statue, on Lake Constance, Bavaria, Germany -- Charles Mahaux/Photolibrary ©