The Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg

Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg is regularly voted the best attraction in the city. Here you can see the world on a scale of 1:87, which attracts over a million visitors every year. Find out more about the “MiWuLa” here.

Not only model train fans, but also tourists, Hamburg residents and miniature enthusiasts flock to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. So it’s no wonder that the permanent exhibition is Hamburg’s – and according to some lists even Germany’s – most popular attraction. As the world’s largest model railway layout, Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland has been delighting the public since August 2001.

The popular attraction can be found in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt warehouse district, where the layout occupies two floors of one of the old warehouses. It consists of various miniature worlds on a scale of 1:87. Every 15 minutes it dawns in Miniatur Wunderland, followed by day and night. Visitors can use around 200 buttons to trigger certain processes on the layout, such as rotating wind turbines or goal kicks in the AOL Arena. However, visitors do not interfere with the timetables and processes. Even without pressing any buttons, something is constantly moving in Miniatur Wunderland. Since 2005, the operators have achieved their goal of building the largest model railroad in the world. Over 1,000 trains run through the wonderland. But there are also cars, bicycles, airplanes and other vehicles on display. The Miniaturwunderland currently covers an area of 1,610 square meters. A total of 360 employees ensure that everything runs smoothly in Miniatur Wunderland.

A tour of Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg is a real trip around the world. Visitors first see the town of “Knuffingen”, which was built back in 2000. Central Germany and Austria are also among the first and oldest sections. This is followed by miniatures of Hamburg and the coast, including the popular Elbphilharmonie concert hall with a view of the concert hall. The USA and Scandinavia offer landscapes and cities as well as road and sea traffic. Switzerland was added as a new section in 2007.

A particularly large number of visitors flock to “Knuffingen Airport”. Since May 2011, you can see how miniature airplanes take off and how airport operations work. The worlds of Italy, Monaco, Provence, Rio de Janeiro and a funfair are also among the newer sections. Most recently, the Patagonia section opened in 2023. Further model building sections are planned until 2028. Visitors to Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg can look over the shoulders of the model builders and technicians. The principle of the open construction site and workshop makes it possible to witness the creation of new worlds. The operators are also very active on social media, where many more glimpses behind the scenes are made possible.

Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg not only shows miniature versions of sights from all over the world, but is also politically active. There are regular news items, such as the 2013 federal elections, when the operators of the Wunderland provided each party with a diorama to show their utopian world. These illustrations of election promises can still be seen today. Commentaries on the climate crisis, fundraising campaigns with Helene Fischer and Johannes B. Kerner in the mini Olympic stadium and free admission for people on low incomes are also part of Miniatur Wunderland’s commitment.

Behind the technical processes of Miniatur Wunderland is a sophisticated control system. The trains are controlled using RailWare software. This ensures that the miniature wagons run independently and randomly over the 15,715-metre-long track. 46 computers and numerous monitors make up the control center. There are four workstations, each of which provides access to all monitors and computers. All trains can be identified via sensors in the tracks.

A soundtrack is also part of Miniatur Wunderland. From stages with music and moving fire engines to airplanes taking off, there are corresponding systems. As these do not always fit together, three different solutions had to be found for the sound. According to Miniatur Wunderland, there are over 389,000 lights in the installation. Each of them can be controlled individually and can light up on command. Four computers are exclusively responsible for this. The model city of Las Vegas is particularly bright with over 33,000 lights. When night falls, the computer-controlled lighting system in Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg creates a blue dusk. After about five minutes, the reddish dawn follows, heralding the next “day”. The lights in Wunderland come on at dusk. The fires, which are simulated by LEDs, are very popular with the public.

To ensure that the cars in the Knuffingen, USA, Scandinavia and airport sections are remote-controlled, the professionals have embedded a fine metal wire in the miniature roads. Based on a system from the Faller company, the cars follow the wires as they have small magnets on their moving front axle. Each car has a mini motor, a rechargeable battery and a microprocessor to control the processes. There are also lights on the vehicles. The US fire engines have up to 65 small lights to flash and use their headlights and tail lights. One highlight is the LED Christmas truck from Coca Cola with its numerous lights. The Knuffingen car layout also includes a staging yard that can accommodate up to 250 vehicles. This is not visible to visitors. Behind the highway there is a small “turnaround shadow parking lot” so that vehicles only drive back into the city in the opposite direction after the queue.

After the Elbphilharmonie in miniature, it is worth finding out more about the imposing structure in the Port of Hamburg.