This book shall contribute to the theory and history of touristic use of rural open spaces that are labeled as ‘idyllic’, ‘natural’, ‘rural’ or ‘original’ in the language of tourism. Travelers and recreation searchers attribute special meaning and potential positive experience to this kind of space. The core questions of this paper are: What are the design principles and social structures of touristic rural areas? What does the tourist expect to find there and how does this relate to the marketing driven communication, promising the experience of ‘real’ nature, beauty, health and well-being? The concept and promise of recreational effectiveness and performance of these landscapes will be examined and challenged with three different approaches: The Gegenweltthese (Counter-World-Thesis) defines touristic rural landscapes as a ‘better’ anti-thesis to our everyday life: a projection that allows for positive, extraordinary experiences. The Semantikthese (Semantics Thesis) applies Niklas Luhmann’s Systems and Communication Theory to the creation and fabrication of touristic spaces. Meaning and perception of those spaces are the result of social communication. Communication media influence the individual perception and interpretation of touristic landscapes – and the things ‘one’ should do in such a landscape. Art and culture have been playing an essential part in influencing the perception of landscape and its relevance for tourism. The touristic mass media are dealing with love (Liebe) and art (Kunst) as a medium of social communication and individual perception – in the concept of Luhmann. Communication media create little islands of private, individual worlds full of experiences and positive emotions. Everything that seems too abstract or as a burden in everyday life turns into beauty and positive experience. These feelings come with a dimension of moral referring to the modern concept of nature itself. The touristic rural space turns into a moral institution for inner and outer experiencing of nature. The word landscape (Landschaft) encompasses the concept and the locality. The Identitätsthese (Identity Thesis) is based on the assumption that everybody in a modern society is constantly working on his/her identity. In leisure time, (touristic) landscapes give the individual the opportunity to feel free and – the same time – to be part of something greater. Hence, touristic landscapes serve as a functional counter balance for our society. The aesthetic landscapes with their idyllic settings allow every individual to feel accepted and embodied in nature as a whole. The Identity Thesis uses the cultural meaning of nature and its quality to be a clear and identifiable hospitable location. On an analytical level, this paper differentiates between a purely aesthetic perception of nature and a semantic meaning of landscape based on social communication and moral ideas. Experiencing landscape allows for personal getaways from everyday’s roles and responsibilities. Ideas of landscape represent cultural and moral concepts, serving as schemes for social identification and the various ideas of what a ‘good life’ would be in a perfect world. The three interconnected approaches above are being illustrated utilizing the concept of Sommerfrische (literally: Summer Freshness). Around 1900, Sommerfrische was the bourgeois middle class version of today’s rural- or natural-tourism. Sommerfrische is rooted in the landscapes and their particular qualities. It covers the fields of aesthetics/beauty, history/tradition and healing/well being – a healthy get-away from everyday stress and life. This made Sommerfrische the ideal place to protect and self-affirm the German middle class’s concept of class cohesion and privacy. The touristic landscape became a place of social inclusion (for those who could afford a Sommerfrische) and exclusion (for all the others) and delivered the impression of (real or seeming) clearness, unity and harmony.