Hamburg – Hamburg Museum of History (Model Railway)

I’m not one for model railways as I prefer the real things, but I’m impressed at the effort and commitment that people put into them. I can get the whole club mentality of joining together and building something (assuming your efforts aren’t literally clubbed to pieces by yobs as was the case with the poor folks at Market Deeping Model Railway Club).

And Hamburg is also where the largest model railway in the world is located, at a museum called Miniatur Wunderland, which I didn’t visit on this trip. However, the Hamburg Museum of History has a large room on their top floor dedicated to another model railway.

The history of the collection goes back to the 1920s when a group of parents didn’t really want their children displaying extensive model railway kits in their living rooms. So a room was found where they could display their efforts and in 1949 the railway was moved to the museum. Although it seems they’ve had some trying times over the decades, including having to replace all the wiring in the 1990s for fire reasons, it’s all still functioning.

And below are some of the photos of their set-up….