I think that in a year I may retire. I cannot take my money with me when I die and I wish to enjoy it with my family while I live. I should prefer living in Germany to any other country though I am an American and am loyal to my country.

Our failure to properly deal with Germany and Japan early cost the world dearly later on. We dare not make the same mistake with China.

The rise of China as a new power is another great challenge for the US. Our failure to properly handle Germany and Japan earlier in the 20th century cost us and the world dearly. We must not make this same mistake with China.

But as environment minister I am very interested in a thriving German automobile industry because I can only pay for the rising costs of environmental protection at home and abroad if there are people in Germany with jobs and who pay taxes.

That's something I learned in art school. I studied graphic design in Germany and my professor emphasized the responsibility that designers and illustrators have towards the people they create things for.

I just went off for two months traveling around Europe on a motorcycle and pretty much turned my phone off. I did 5 000 miles with my dad. We went through Holland Germany Austria Slovenia Croatia Bosnia Montenegro Italy... and then I did Spain and France by myself.

Overcoming the Cold War required courage from the people of Central and Eastern Europe and what was then the German Democratic Republic but it also required the steadfastness of Western partner over many decades when many had long lost hope of integration of the two Germanys and Europe.

When I was a child I asked my mother what homosexuality was about and she said - and this was 100 years ago in Germany and she was very open-minded - 'It's like hair color. It's nothing. Some people are blond and some people have dark hair. It's not a subject.' This was a very healthy attitude.

Traveling to Russia and Germany and being able to see the world at a young age was really cool for me and I really liked that.