After more than a year of construction work, the Venice section is opening on 21 February 2018
The new Venice section at the Miniatur Wunderland with a size of 9 m² may not be setting any records in terms of model layout size, however, the exhibition’s smallest section to date is dedicated to a different kind of superlatives. The model makers have been famous for their attention to detail for many years, and when building the Italian lagoon town, this was taken to a whole new level. It was not without reason that Venice was declared its own sub-section on a separate island, when it became clear that the work required could never be completed by the scheduled opening date for the Italy section. Meanwhile, more than 35,000 man hours have been dedicated to creating the Italian world heritage site with its winding alleyways, canals, gondolas and palazzi that were finished with greater precision than ever before, in an effort to recreate the original as closely as possible.
Achieving a realistic recreation of the buildings’ deterioration caused by regular flooding – known as acqua alta – has proved a real challenge for our Wunderland architects. Construction time and costs were pushed up further by the intricate façade decorations. “At a record square metre price of well over 100,000 euros, Venice didn’t come cheap at all. However, the spectacular result shows that the investment was worth it. Every corner of our miniature Venice is the result of so much devotion – this cannot be measured in figures,” says Frederik Braun.
If you insist to try anyway, it comes down to this: Around 60 Wunderland staff members have been involved in building the new section over the past 19 months. They have made more than 280 houses and bridges by hand, have installed 2,800 LED, laid around 5,000 metres of cable and have made 160 individual street lights. The canals are kept busy with 450 Venetian gondolas, each of which was carefully hand crafted, decorated and fit out. The particular flair of Venice is highlighted by the Procuratie, made from 4,000 components as well as Doge’s Palace with 2,700 components as well as the famous Piazza San Marco, on which countless Wunderland residents are engaged in the colourful hustle of Carnival.
Nevertheless, there is more to Venice in Wunderland, than just famous sights. “When planning Venice we were especially concerned with showing not only touristy Venice, but to also give an impression of Venetian everyday life and the culture of the charming North Italians, beyond the crowded tourist magnets. This is why it is worth to take a closer look at the narrow alleyways and little courtyards,” says Gerrit Braun.
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Miniatur Wunderland press kit
Contact
Thomas Cerny
t.cerny@miniatur-wunderland.de
Tel. +49 40 300 6 800
