The true character shows in defeat, of course, but also in victory.
And the Greens are not giving a good picture right now.
One had almost forgotten that this is a party that seeks arguments and contradictions.
Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck succeeded in pacifying the conflicts between Realos and Fundis.
That was one of the reasons why the Greens have meanwhile been entrusted with the Chancellery.
But was there really peace?
Because now, of all times, when the Greens are almost there, old conflicts are breaking out again.
The party wings are still beating - and they are beating each other.
Ironically, the Greens, who are so professional, are now the uncertainty factor in the traffic light alliance.
The conflicts are so great that the start of the strike vote had to be postponed.
During the coalition negotiations, Baerbock had already conjured up the left-wing tormentors when they called on environmental groups to put more pressure on climate policy.
The green party leadership has to see how they can get these spirits back into the bottle as quickly as possible.
The displeasure with Cem Özdemir is symbolic of this.
Not everyone in the party is a fan, for a variety of reasons.
The fact that parts of the party, of all parts, which Germany wants to portray Germany in all its diversity, speak worst about a candidate for ministerial with a migration background seems to bother the party left less.