Built by twins Gerrit and Frederik Braun, Miniatur Wunderland is a huge model village that opened in Hamburg, Germany in 2001.
More of a model world than village, the ‘Miniature Wonderland’ features a number of regions from around Europe and the USA, with ‘Italy’ set to open this Spring.
Highlights include a rock festival with DJ BoBo, Hamburg’s Imtech Arena, a mini Las Vegas, St Wendelberg in the Alps, and a sparkling night-time view.
The attraction has achieved two world record titles for encompassing the Largest model train set and the Largest model airport, which secured it a coveted place in the Guinness World Records 2016 book.
Google recently worked with Ubilabs to shrink the spherical cameras of its Street View technology in order to capture the hidden intricacies of the model village, with its many nooks and crannies that might otherwise be missed.
Fixed to tiny toy cars and trains, the cameras took 360-degree imagery of the museum which can be viewed in its entirety here.
When last checked by Guinness World Records, the epic train track covered an incredible 12,000 m (39,370 ft), journeying through models of the Rocky Mountains, a mini Matterhorn and a Scandinavian fjord.
At the point the model comprised over 11,000 carriages and wagons, 900 signals, 3,500 buildings and 200,000 – but it is still growing.
All functions of the railway and its features are monitored from a control with at least 40 computers. There are 50-60 'rail accidents' per day that need locating as soon as possible for the attraction to function.
Knuffingen Airport (located in the fictional town of Knuffingen between the Alps and Harz) has more than 10,000 inhabitants.
Built to a scale of 1:87, the 494-square foot model, which is based on Hamburg’s Fuhlsbüttel International Airport, took seven years to complete at a staggering cost of almost $5 million.
The display features 40 planes, 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1,000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches and 300 buildings.