Since 2012, the German National Tourist Board has been asking all foreign visitors to
for their favorite sights in Germany. For the third time in a row
Miniatur Wunderland was voted the most popular attraction and
has now equaled Neuschwanstein Castle with three awards,
which won the title in 2012, 2013 and 2014. “For me, this title feels a bit
unreal. We have been around for less than 20 years and the fact that we are already as well-known and popular in
other countries as Neuschwanstein Castle, Cologne’s
Cathedral or the Europapark makes me incredibly proud and grateful. Almost exactly 20 years ago, when we signed the rental agreement,
I would have thought this
to be almost impossible,” explains Wunderland founder Frederik Braun.
Especially in the early years, model railroads were considered a German hobby
and in the first few years, over 90% of the guests came from Germany
. In the last 10 years in particular, however, this has changed fundamentally
. Videos and reports have been distributed hundreds of millions of times around the world
and hundreds of thousands of people come to Hamburg every year just for
Wunderland. “We have been very lucky to win several awards and honors in the
last few years. But this award is undoubtedly the most important one for
us, because it shows us that our model builders have achieved something
that was thought impossible. We wouldn’t have thought it possible,
that people from Korea to Australia would come to Hamburg just for a model railway layout
. I think we are lucky to still be able to surprise
in a world in which almost everything can be experienced in perfect digital form and
reality can hardly exceed expectations. What our model builders have created in
almost 1,000,000 hours of work is sometimes bordering on madness,
can’t always be explained rationally and manages to surprise and enchant people time and time again
,” says Gerrit Braun, trying to explain the success.
Even in this year of crisis, around 98% of guests feel that their visit to Wunderland
was positive and would recommend it to others. Many visitors
from abroad are currently unable to visit due to Corona. This is also reflected
on YouTube, for example. Almost
1,000,000 hours of videos from Wunderland were viewed here in 2020. In the whole of 2019
it was “only” 691,000 hours. Despite the massive coronavirus
slump, we are therefore working hard on the future. The Monaco/
Provence section will open in 2021 and 3,000 square meters will be added on the
other side of the canal from 2022. “The award from the German National Tourist Board
is extremely important for us psychologically. We decided to risk the expansion despite
corona losses and an unclear future. This has caused us many a sleepless night in
recent weeks. However, this prize gives me
hope and optimism that interest will continue unabated and that
people will also come to us and to Hamburg after corona,” concludes Frederik Braun optimistically at
.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE?
To the official result of the German National Tourist Board
The TOP 100 sights in Germany germany.travel
Press contact: Miniatur Wunderland, Sebastian Drechsler
s.drechsler@miniatur-wunderland.de
The façade of the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt warehouse district. 
Neuschwarnstein Castle is one of the most popular excursion destinations for Wunderland residents. Every year, many Preiserlein from all sections make their way to Bavaria to visit the famous castle.
