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14 x R&A HASLEMERE & VILLAGES
Hamburg
IT WAS COLD, mind-numbingly cold, the streets were
glazed with snow and the rivers were filled with large
chunks of ice the size of beach balls – and I could see
it all. Stood at the summit of the 132-metre high St
Michaelis Church, totally in awe, I overlooked the
beautiful city of Hamburg.
A panning shot of my surroundings included a busy
industrial park, concentrated around a duo of cloudtouching
pipes, both emitting plumes of smoke into
the icy sky. Also in view was the heart of the city. The
hectic roads were congested with cars that looked
ant-sized from my position and the volume of inhabitants
was incredible – the place was full of energy and
had a contagious buzz about it.
After touching down, the church was the first point of
call for me and my friend Martyn – but the true reason
behind our venture to the city of Hamburg was to
visit Miniatur Wunderland.
The ‘Wunderland’, as it’s known, is a large scale model
railway within a warehouse on the banks of the River
Elbe, in the same area where the pair of industrial
tubes could be seen. We certainly familiarised ourselves
with the area, although by chance, as we found
locating Miniatur Wunderland somewhat of a mission
– largely due to our poor sense of direction than local
maps failing us. However, we eventually found it and
it certainly proved the phrase ‘good things come to
those who wait’ – the place was nothing short of
magical.
The utter brilliance of Miniatur Wunderland is best
explained in numbers:
Track length: 13,000m
Trains: 930
Longest Train: 14.51m
Figurines: 215,000
Trees: 228,000
Cost: £4.5million
Once inside we could hardly conceal our excitement,
we were like two little boys in a toy shop – and a very
big toy shop at that. We spent hours traipsing around
the eight different sections of nerdy figurines which
Nineteen year old Jake Kendall reports on his first visit
to Germany’s second largest city.
included Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland and
America. We were joyously captivated by a miniscule
working chocolate factory, a music festival, a football
match and the impressive Knuffingen airport.
The spectacle became even more superb every quarter
of an hour when day turned to night and everywhere
was lit up with an array of colourful and in
some cases flashing, LED lights. We marvelled at a
miniature Las Vegas with our mouths wide open – the
attention to detail was stunning. The whole experience
was truly unbelievable, unimaginable and way
beyond any expectations I’d had.
When we eventually had to leave and head back to
the hotel, I felt the distance between reality and fantasy
had been strangely fused closer together – an
idea which allowed for a sound sleep as soon as my
head hit the pillow that night.
On our second day we wanted see more of Hamburg
so we decided to take an open-top bus tour aboard
the Stadtrundfahrt. The hour-and-a-half long tour
began with us revisiting the HafenCity – though this
time we had the benefit of a tour guide to provide us
with some background information.
We were told how ‘the major city of tomorrow’ is part
of an ambitious project which will increase the city
centre by forty per cent. The city already boasts the
impressive Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, designed by
February 2013