Large protected areas in Germany (national parks, biosphere reserves and nature parks) fulfill diverse and complex tasks with specific focuses on ‘protecting’ and ‘using’ ‘nature and landscape’. The ‘landscapes’ that are to be ‘preserved’ or ‘developed’ here show a certain range and can indeed collide with the ideas of visitors, whether locals or tourists. ‘Letting nature be nature’ follows the wilderness ideal in national parks in favor of untouched ‘natural landscapes’. ‘Cultural landscape development’ in biosphere reserves and nature parks raises the question of what can be part of ‘landscape’ and what cannot, for example wind turbines—aspects that are highlighted in this article.