Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland (German for 'miniature wonderland') is a model railway and miniature airport attraction in Hamburg, Germany, the largest of its kind in the world. The railway is located in the historic Speicherstadt district of the city.

Miniatur Wunderland GmbH

Miniatur Wunderland in the Speicherstadt district of Hamburg
Type	Limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung)
Industry	Model railway
Founded	December 2000 (2000-12)
Headquarters	Hamburg, Germany
Key people	Frederik & Gerrit Braun, Stephan Hertz
Number of employees	360[1]
Website	miniatur-wunderland.de

In October 2016 the railway consisted of 15,715 m (51,558 ft) of track in H0 scale, divided into nine sections: Harz, the fictitious city of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, Switzerland, a replica of the Hamburg Airport and Italy. Of the 7,000 m² (75,347 sq ft) of floorspace, the model takes 1,499 m² (16,135 sq ft).[2]

By 2020, the exhibit is expected to have reached its final construction phase, including at least a total of ten new sections in a model area of over 2,300 m² (24,757 sq ft).[2] The exhibit includes 1,300 trains made up of over 10,000 carriages, over 100,000 moving vehicles, ca. 500,000 lights, 130,000 trees, and 400,000 human figurines.[3] Planning is also in progress for the construction of sections for Central America and the Caribbean, Asia, England, Africa and The Netherlands.[4]

History

The construction of the first part started in December 2000 and the first three parts: Knuffingen, Central Hamburg and Austria,[5] were completed in August 2001. The project was created by twin brothers Frederik and Gerrit Braun.[6]

In 2012 the Wunderland also completed a series of diorama representing social conditions and life in various periods of German history. [7]

For Christmas 2018, Miniatur Wunderland teamed up with Airbnb to raise money for Hanseatic Help.[8][9] As part of holiday miniature figurines will fly in to Knuffingen Airport, catch a special Christmas train to Knuffingen station and tour around Knuffingen town.[10] The guests will stay in a chalet, hosted by Mini, Mayor of Knuffingen, equipped with stockings (size of a pencil tip), a rocking horse (size of a paperclip), a (4 cm high) Christmas tree as well as a fireplace.[8][9]

Overview of the different sections

Section	Name	Completion date	Size
1	Harz/Central Germany	August 2001	c. 120 m^2 (1,300 sq ft)
2	Knuffingen	August 2001	c. 120 m^2 (1,300 sq ft)
3	Austria	August 2001	c. 60 m^2 (650 sq ft)
4	Hamburg	November 2002	c. 200 m^2 (2,200 sq ft)
5	United States	December 2003	c. 100 m^2 (1,100 sq ft)
6	Scandinavia	July 2005	c. 300 m^2 (3,200 sq ft)
7	Switzerland	November 2007	c. 250 m^2 (2,700 sq ft)
8	Knuffingen Airport	May 2011	c. 150 m^2 (1,600 sq ft)
9	Italy	September 2016	c. 190 m^2 (2,000 sq ft)
9 a.	Venice (as part to the Italy section)	February 2018	c. 10 m^2 (110 sq ft)
10	Fun Fair	June 2020	c. 9 m^2（97 sq ft）
11 a.	Monaco (with Formula-One-Circuit)	November 2020 (Under construction)	c. 36 m^2（390 sq ft）
11 b.	Provence	November 2020 (Under construction)	c. 27 m^2（290 sq ft）
12	South America	Nov-Dec 2021 (Under construction)	c. 200 m^2 (2150 sq ft)
13	Central America and the Caribbean	2023 (planned)	c. 140 m^2 (1500 sq ft)
14	Asia	2026 (planned)	c. 150 m^2 (1610 sq ft)
15	England/The Netherlands/Africa	2028– (planned)	unknown

Gallery

• 
  View of the Hamburg section
• 
  Ships sailing in real water in the Scandinavia layout
• 
  A football stadium based on Volksparkstadion
• 
  Las Vegas Strip night scene
• 
  Control room
• 
  In The Alps
• 
  Railway bridge
• 
  Railway in Norway
• 
  Rome in the Italy section
• 
  Venice model under construction

See also

• Hamburg Museum - the MEHEV club keeps a miniature railroad in 1 gauge at this museum

References

1. "Facts & Figures". Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
2. "Wunderland Facts – The Wunderland in Numbers". Retrieved 2020-06-16.
3. "Live Like A German". Toy Train Exhibition (Miniatur Wunderland). Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
4. "The Future of Wunderland - Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg".
5. "Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg - model building - model railway Hamburg".
6. "Train Trip". Kidzworld.com. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
7. "the History of Civilization - Special Exhibitions - model railway Hamburg".
8. Morris, Natalie (2018-12-13). "The world's tiniest home is now on Airbnb - but you won't be able to fit inside". Metro. Retrieved 2018-12-16.
9. airbnb.co.uk (2018). "World's Tiniest Airbnb Hamburg". airbnb.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
10. "The World's Tiniest Home on Airbnb Now Available for Bookings". Airbnb Press Room. 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

External links

• Miniatur Wunderland – official website in English
• Miniatur Wunderland's channel on YouTube