Rio de Janeiro becomes part of Hamburg – Miniatur Wunderland opens new bridge and new section

After four years of work on two continents in the midst of a global pandemic, over 60,000 working hours and almost 1,500,000 euros in construction costs, the new Rio section in Miniatur Wunderland was opened today at 11:12 a.m. The 46 square meter section is the first section in the new storage block L, which was inaugurated together with Rio by Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher and Brazil’s Ambassador Roberto Jaguaribe. This moment is special for Wunderland in many ways: “We have spent four years building this fantastic little section under adverse conditions. But for us, it doesn’t feel as if we’re finished now, but rather as if we’re just getting started. With the additional 3,000 square meters, we now have space to let off steam creatively for at least 10 years and build many more fantastic worlds,” says Wunderland founder Frederik Braun, describing his feelings.

With the opening of the new section, the bridge and, on the other side, the new exhibition space in Block L of Hamburg’s Speicherstadt will go into service at the same time. The planning and construction work for the extension took over ten years. “It’s been over a decade since we first spoke to HHLA about our expansion dreams. This gave rise to the crazy idea of a bridge that would carry small trains and people across the canal into a new world. The fact that this vision has now become reality still feels quite unreal to me and is simply wonderful,” explains Gerrit Braun.

There was no more room for new worlds in the previous Wunderland facilities. Block L adds 3,000 square meters of exhibition space to the world’s largest model railway layout and the expansion is secured for at least another ten years. The Rio section is the first of four South American parts that the Miniatur Wunderland model makers are building simultaneously with the Martinez model making family in Argentina and Hamburg. A film about this unique teamwork will be released in cinemas at the end of 2022, produced by the makers of the globally successful Michael Schumacher documentary. “We met the Martinez family four years ago in New York and moments later we had the crazy idea of building South America together with South Americans, partly in South America. Obviously there is something like a kindred spirit, because we felt from the very first moment that we were similarly loving, nerdy, crazy and passionate about the cause, and in four years we haven’t had to doubt it once. It was a great adventure, especially because of Corona. But when you stand in front of Rio now, you immediately realize that this co-production has created something fantastically unique – a truly new world,” says Frederik Braun.

Corona was a major challenge for this emotional project. Many Wunderlanders spent the first year of construction together with the Martinez family in Buenos Aires. Due to the pandemic, the Wunderland team had to be flown out head over heels in February 2020. Without further ado, Team Martinez continued building alone and was accompanied by hundreds of Skype calls from Hamburg. Rio de Janeiro then arrived in Hamburg by ship almost a year ago and took Team Wunderland thousands of hours to complete. An intercontinental masterpiece had been created.

With the opening of Rio de Janeiro, the wonderful bridge has now also been opened. At a height of 16 meters above the water, the 25-meter-long Fleet Bridge is the link between the old and the new world. While guests cross the glass bridge, they can also admire the special exhibition “The world from above”. Here the trains from the old sections cross the bridge through the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Visitors can view our beautiful planet like a bird from above before entering the new wonderland world through a temple gate.

Rio will be followed by the Patagonia and Antarctica section at the turn of the year 2022/2023, the rainforest with the Amazon and Andes in 2024, and the Caribbean in 2025. Afterwards, parts of Asia or Africa are planned. These will then be located above South America on the 4th floor of the new warehouse. Until then, the floor will be used for special exhibitions and will offer a spectacular view of the South American sections under construction thanks to a huge opening in the ceiling. In addition, further parts of the storage facility will become accessible in the course of 2022. On the 2nd floor there will be a small cinema, a small restaurant and a passageway to the completely new Wunderland virtual reality world, where you can shrink down and move freely through Wunderland as a small figure with the help of high-tech equipment and experience a wonderful adventure. This is currently being developed together with Europa-Park and is expected to open on the first floor at the end of February under the name “Yullbe”.