All five federal Ministers of the Environment, as well as their forerunners who were committed to environmental protection even before the Ministry was founded, take a backward look at more than two decades of successful German environmental policy. They also point out the challenges the Ministry is facing today. Renowned advocates of nature conservation, representatives of associations and non-governmental organizations, CEOs, researchers and journalists round out the picture. All of them have helped to make Germany today an internationally respected pioneer in the field of environmental protection.