"For better or for worse, Henry Morgenthau had gotten his wish. He had destroyed the old Germany. The industrious citizens of the Germanies would foreverafter seek out the gleaming cities in the West rather than build up the land of their birth. When one stands atop the tallest building in Frankfurt am Main, it is said that all of the farmlands across the region are visible. A quaint fact to tell the tourists until one ponders the implications.
The tourists' tale is of course an exaggeration, the modern Germanies boast more than just rolling plains. Rural dairies, slaughterhouses, furniture factories, and refineries dot the countryside. The "Garden of Europe" can still cheerfully supply artisan goods to the world, the post-war years a distant memory. But to see the suffering of Germany, one must not look for scars but instead appreciate what is not visible. Skyscrapers are not visible in Germany, radiotowers are not visible in Germany, modern civilization is not visible in Germany..."
— The description of West Germany
