Nature is often leaps and bounds ahead of us when it comes to creating ideal material behavior: from the high hardness of insect carapaces to extremely flexible palm trees to wafer-thin eggshells that can withstand enormous forces. Inspired by nature, we develop so-called “metamaterials” whose extreme, special or unusual properties can be controlled by their internal structure. Just as we assemble Lego bricks into complex buildings, we develop structural building blocks whose details ultimately make up the properties of a metamaterial. These include very light yet particularly stiff and strong materials, ceramics that can be compressed like sponges, or smart materials that can transform themselves. In the lecture, we will introduce the exciting world of metamaterials and present various successful examples.