A short story about a big project
It was many years ago that Gerd Dauscher unexpectedly turned up on our doorstep one evening. Yes, the chief planner and chief model builder of Miniatur Wunderland. At the time, he lived just a few kilometres away from us in Mühlhausen (Upper Palatinate), where the Arnold company had had a production site for many years.
During this time, Gerd visited us frequently and the most important topic of conversation was, of course, Miniatur Wunderland and his work for the people of Hamburg. This time he had brought something special with him: a three-dimensional miniature, consisting of many small Styrodur blocks and a model of a staircase, of a scale unknown to me, of the Switzerland section that was being planned at the time.
He wanted to get our opinion on the matter. The main concern: The view from the top of Switzerland, which extends over two storeys, should show as little as possible of the staircase and the visitors on it. And when they arrived at the bottom, they should also be offered a spectacular Alpine panorama. Together, we played with it, discussed it, tried out a number of variations, moved the staircase, shifted (mountain) blocks. The result came very close to what was finally built. Years later, this extraordinary „miniature control centre“ was still standing in Gerd's Hamburg office.
The construction phase was opened on 12 November 2007. In spring 2008, the special issue of Modellbahn-Kurier Special 7 „Miniatur Wunderland - Part 6“ produced by us was published.
Still impressive even after 18 years: the two-storey Switzerland in Miniatur Wunderland. Here is the view from above of the main part of the construction section.
One floor below from a different perspective: the same part of the installation with the high mountain backdrop. Here and there, nothing can be seen of the visitors on the other floor.
How modest our small 1:160 scale handicraft project looks in comparison, with only two tracks, ...
... a railway crossing and a variable design around it.