Over 3.3 million visitors in five years – it’s time to celebrate! And with a birthday party on 15 August from 10 p.m., with cake, dancing and a raffle
It is Hamburg’s biggest tourist attraction and has attracted over 3.3 million visitors to date: Miniatur Wunderland in the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district. Now the world’s largest model railway layout is five years old and is celebrating its unique success story with cake, dancing and a raffle on the night of 15 to 16 August.
CEO Frederik Braun comments: “When we opened on 16 August 2001, we expected 150,000 visitors. But almost 300,000 people came in the very first year. Today there are over 800,000 guests and we are soon expecting 900,000 visitors a year. This means that we attract more guests than the musical ‘The Lion King’, for example.
Today, Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg alone accounts for 200,000 overnight stays in the Hanseatic city, with 70% of visitors travelling to the city especially for a visit.
But a lot of work also went into this success. Around 120 employees installed a total of 9,000 metres of track, placed 700 computer-controlled trains, 6,600 cars, 165,000 figures and wired 200,000 individually controlled lights on 900 square metres of model area. Currently, work is already in progress on the next construction phase (“Swiss Alps”), which is due to be opened in 2007 after 100,000 hours of work.
Another reason for its success: Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg offers more than just a show for male railway fans. On the layout with its diverse and detailed worlds, interactive animations provide variety time and time again and inspire men, women and children alike. The result was a rush of visitors right from the start.
Miniatur Wunderland is also expecting this on 15 August. From 10 p.m. (until 2.00 a.m.), the team will be celebrating its 5th birthday with its guests. There will be a tombola and a dance floor and at midnight there will be champagne and a piece of birthday cake for all visitors. Five giant cakes decorated with Miniatur Wunderland motifs will be baked for the occasion.
Frederik Braun: ‘We want to toast this success together with our fans and guests and say thank you to everyone.’
Media representatives who would like to report on the birthday please register by e-mail or using the enclosed reply fax. A photo session of the CEOs with the birthday cakes will take place at Miniatur Wunderland at 4.00 pm.
