We investigate local properties of the Green function of the complement of a compact set E. First we consider the case E ⊂ [0, 1] in the extended complex plane. We extend a result of V. Andrievskii which claims that if the Green function satisfies the Hölder1/2 condition locally at the origin, then the density of E at 0, in terms of logarithmic capacity, is the same as that of the whole interval [0, 1]. We give an integral estimate on the density in terms of the Green function, which also provides a necessary condition for the optimal smoothness. Then we extend the results to the case E ⊂ [−1, 1]. In this case the maximal smoothness of the Green function is H¨older-1 and a similar integral estimate and necessary condition hold as well. In the second part of the paper we consider the case when E is a compact set in Rd , d > 2. We give a Wiener type characterization for the Hölder continuity of the Green function, thus extending a result of L. Carleson and V. Totik. The obtained density condition is necessary, and it is sufficient as well, provided E satisfies the cone condition. It is also shown that the Hölder condition for the Green function at a boundary point can be equivalently stated in terms of the equilibrium measure and the solution to the corresponding Dirichlet problem. The results solve a long standing open problem - raised by Maz’ja in the 1960’s - under the simple cone condition.