The Miniatur Wunderland exhibit in Hamburg, Germany, is nothing short of a remarkable achievement, however miniature it might be. The layout is roughly 14,000 square feet, and it's all been built by hand, over six years, and at a cost of $4,440,000. Between locales in mainland Europe, Scandanavia, and the U.S., there's 900 trains pulling around 12,000 wagons, not to mention miniature cars being controlled by a complex system of software and human overseers. The newest addition is a fully-functioning airport, with more than 40 airplanes that take off and land, more or less like the real thing. The population sits at roughly 200,000 miniature people right now, but those behind the exhibit plan on creating more additions until 2020. Who knows what they'll come up with by then?
For now, take a look at the video and admire the incredible attention to detail. If I'm ever in Hamburg, I know where I'm going.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkmg3Y64_s width:640 height:390]
