Only common sense and a bit of experience will do that for you.

I took my complaints to a young friend of mine who I imagined would be sympathetic: he is preparing for his Hunter’s Certificate, his “Jagdprüfung” which will be set in January.

This is nicknamed the “Green Abitur” or even the “Jagd-Diplom” because of the sheer mass of questions.

And he convinced me that sometimes Germany ’s obsession with training for leisure makes sense.

But, above all, the so-called Jagdprüfung teaches you how to read nature: how to identify trees and plants and how to move quietly, gracefully and wide awake through a forest.

Foreigners are often astonished that German politicians can talk seriously about a future alliance between the conservative Christian Democrats and the apparently left-leaning Green party.