Minatur Wunderland
- Padre
- Dec 9, 2018
- 6 min read
November 19-20, 2018
Hamburg, Germany
Monday was cold and windy, but Minatur Wunderland beckoned, so we caught a cab to the old warehouse district where the Braun brothers have built “the world’s largest model railway.” To me the story of how it came to be is absolutely fascinating, but way too long to try to share, so if you’re interested visit https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exchange/about/history/. Or if you’d like an overview of it, visit https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/. It’s not on the list of “Wonders of the World,” but it should be!
I’ve heard about Minatur Wunderland ever since I began modeling the Santa Fe railroad when Andrea and I lived in Georgetown. As soon as people found out I was a modeler, every few months I would get a link from somebody who “thought I might find it interesting,” so I was really excited to finally see it in person. Our visit was my first, but Frank’s 27th. He is such an expert on it that he gives PowerPoint presentations at the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) annual convention...a gathering of hundreds of model railroad modelers and enthusiasts from all over the US, and even from overseas.
Arriving at the building, it’s not very impressive. It looks exactly like what it is...a warehouse. Built on the top floors, there is normally an elevator that takes you to the entrance. But today? Not so much! Out of order. So I climbed the 68 steps up the stairs to get my first taste of a long awaited experience.
I’ve mentioned that several times I’ve been on sensory overload at some of the experiences on this trip...Hans Peter Porsche’s TrainWerks; several churches; Zugspritze -- Wunderland ranks right at the top. It really is absolutely overwhelming in the extent and detail that makes up the layout. It’s called a model railway, but the reality is that most of the 17 million people who have visited probably paid very little attention to the trains. They were just an excuse to build, and keep on building, a scenic extravaganza. Just a few of the statistics:
1,490 sq. meters
1,040 trains
260,000 figures
385,000 LED lights
10 exacting replications of locations from Italy to the US spread through ten rooms on two floors.
On the first day of our visit we arrived just as the layout opened. I took over an hour and a half just to walk through the layout without really stopping just to walk through the entire two floors. I finally gave up on trying to take pictures and, quite frankly, just gawked like all the other visitors who were gathering. Finally the layout was too crowded to really get a chance to see any more, so I goose-walked down the same 68 steps and we caught a cab back to the hotel.
After napping all afternoon we returned to Paulaner’s Restaurant for...what else...schnitzel. I had been practicing my German so after we ate I used my best iTranslator Pro phrase, “Die Rechnung, bitte.” (May I have the bill please.) After several confused responses from the waitress, Frank finally asked on my behalf, to the great amusement of the waitress and the couple eating next to us who thought I was trying to order apple strudel. Oh well. So much for mingling with the natives!
That night we decided that, if the elevator wasn’t fixed by opening time the next day (Tuesday) we’d skip going back and head on to Frankfurt. Fortunately, when Frank called after breakfast, it had been repaired overnight so we caught a cab back.
Frank and I parted ways as he took off to take pictures of newly added features to add to his presentation. I decided to concentrate on just one of the areas and chose Italy where I again spent nearly two hours just examining and photographing the details of the layout.
The layout is designed to delight not only male model railroaders, but women and children. For the women there are many many scenes of family events. For the children there a buttons to push that cause some kind of action. (A building wall falls down during an earthquake for example.) They have accomplished their goal, because there was a mix of men, women and children all pointing and exclaiming over the details they found. (Remember the 17 million I mentioned above? On the day of our first visit, there were over 2,000 people who toured the facility.)
Out of the over 180 pictures I took, I’ve singled out 18 to show you how detailed, and quirky, the builders have replicated their subjects.
To walk you through them I first tried to select a wide angle of a scene and then to zoom in on more intimate details. I gave that up, though, and have just selected a number of the funnier ones that you’d only see if you spent the kind of time I did in narrowing your focus from macro to micro.
Jesus walking on the water next to a gondola in Venice.
A village scene barely a foot wide running from the front of the layout to the back
A wife, from the same scene, storming down the stairs leaving her husband behind with a bucket over his head. Who knows what he’d said to her.
Workmen repairing a section of track with the required two supervisors standing around drinking coffee.
A family in a Volkswagen camper hanging the laundry out to dry in a local parking lot, much to the consternation of the local poliizei
An everyday street scene. Hint: Look at the poster the workman is hanging
Excavated ruins
Two women walking their poodle through the ruins
A crowd gathered around two fountains (actual replicas of fountains in Rome)
A group of tourists. Some looking at, some taking pictures of, and some ignoring...the grim Reaper
More tourist taking their pictures with two Praetorian guards
Ooops!
Batman and Robin flying off the roof of a church (above them was a stork flying down from the church tower to deliver a baby, but I didn’t get a good photo)
A plaza between apartment buildings
The statuary in the plaza
The police holding pistols on a mugger who has a knife to his hostage’s throat
A joyful wedding...notice the stork on the roof? The bride is pregnant! Frank said the last time he was here the father was standing off to the side holding a shotgun. Apparently he was satisfied with the state of affairs because he was nowhere to be seen on our visit.
In a scene from the US section -- a cowgirl waiting to use the two-holer...on the roof of a home
And, finally, the most photographed scene on the entire layout...a naked couple making love in a corn field. Sorry. There were so many people crowded around the area that I couldn’t take a picture. You’ll just have to use your imagination. Now, now! It’s not that graphic!
We had only been there about two hours since opening and the place was so crowded I couldn’t get close enough to take any more picture so we headed back to the hotel.
Photos: Selections; 172 photos (some were shots of the floor, etc. so I deleted them)
Reflections: As with almost every day of this trip, Minatur Wunderland by itself would have made the trip worthwhile.
What struck me the most though, was the shell of a bombed out church on our route back to the hotel. I couldn’t get pictures but in the midst of the bustling ultra-modern city it stood as a stark reminder of the horrors of war.
While the tall Gothic tower of St. Nicholas’ Church in Hamburg, Germany, still pierces the skyline of the city like it did in the brief heyday when it ranked as the tallest building in the world, what remains of the church below is now empty save for visitors coming to pay their respects to the World War II monument it has become.
The story is, the Germans bombed Coventry. The Allies knew it was coming but couldn’t stop it without compromising one of their deepest undercover spies. The commander of the British bomber Air Wing, who lived in Coventry, carpet bombed Hamburg in retaliation, specifically targeting St. Nicholas’ Church. I’ve been to Coventry Cathedral and seen its shell. It was such a profound experience that I joined the Community of the Cross of Nails, a community of Christians from all over the world praying for peace, and have been a member ever since.
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