Miniatur Wunderland. Giant Model Railway, Hamburg, Germany.
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The Miniatur Wunderland (German for “Miniature Wonderland”) is, according to Guinness World Records, the largest model railway system in the world. It is located at the historic Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany.
As of December 2021, the railway consisted of 16,138 m of track in H0 scale, divided into nine sections: Harz mountains, the fictitious town of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, the United States, Scandinavia, Switzerland, a replica of Hamburg Airport, Italy and South America. Of the 7,000 m2 of floor space, the model occupies 1,545 m2.
The exhibition includes around 1,120 digitally controlled trains with more than 10,000 wagons. The Wonderland is also designed with around 4,300 houses and bridges, more than 10,000 vehicles — of which around 350 drive independently on the installation — 52 airplanes, and around 290,000 figures. The system features a recurring day-night lighting cycle and almost 500,000 built-in LED lights. Planning is also in progress for the construction of sections for Central America and the Caribbean, Asia, England, Africa, and The Netherlands.
After construction began in December 2000, the first three sections (Knuffingen, Central Germany, and Austria) opened on 16 August 2001. Since then, several sections have been added. With the completion of the Hamburg, German Coast section in November 2002, Wunderland became the largest model railroad in Europe. The United States was added in December 2003, followed by Scandinavia in July 2005. On 10 September 2015, the Brauns added the final piece of track between the Switzerland section and a new Italy section, extending the track length from 13,000 to 15,400 meters. An observing Guinness judge presented the certificate for the newly established world record.
The 190 sq. m. Bella Italia section was opened on 28 September 2016 after four years under construction, involving 180,000 man-hours and costing around €4 million. Work on the Monaco / Provence section started in August 2019 and, when completed, will add another 315 meters. The total length of currently 15,715 meters therefore corresponds to 1,367.21 km in real length, making Miniatur Wunderland the largest model railway layout in the world by all measures.
In 2020, a bridge connected the original Wunderland to a building across the canal. The new space features depictions of Antarctica and South America, including Rio de Janeiro. Construction on Monaco and Provence, featuring a Formula One circuit, is expected to conclude in 2024.
Other future projects include Central America/Caribbean and Asia. The creators say construction in Great Britain will begin in 2028.
Miniatur Wunderland, Hamburg, Germany