When I was young, these grew in our neighborhood. I remember my parents giving me very stern warnings not to touch that plant. I found it strange that such a nasty plant was allowed to grow in a neighborhood with little kids around, but then again there's lots of nasty plants in German gardens.

After I made the mistake to touch a stinging nettle, I took such warnings more seriously.

To be fair, touching a stinging nettle is standard fare of childhood, and isn't really bad for you other than the pain. If you spend lots of time out and about in green spaces in certain parts of Europe, getting stung by some nettles will be unavoidable.

At least in Russia, it was almost a rite of passage to have "nettle-fights" - you and your friends all put on a pair of gloves and some shorts, everyone grabs a nice nettle, and then you start whipping each other with them.

Yeah I ran into one of those as a kid. Thankfully it was a rainy and cloudy day so didn't get any scars from the burns (it reacts with sun light)

Also getting rid of those things is pain in the ass as the seeds can remain in ground for up to 10 years before the plant starts to grow

We have to watch out for that in the US too, as well as wild parsnip.

For more information on the mighty Hogweed please consult this handy PSA featuring Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYCDf9kWXDY

I have heard that this plant is very difficult and dangerous to destroy.

And this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_sosnowskyi

Western Europe, too. It's pretty common in the Netherlands.