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LANDESVERBAND
NEWSLETTER AND MAGAZINE
DONAUSCHWABEN
TRAVEL NEWS
 02/24/13
October November December
2009 Volume 4 Number 4
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2009
Spot-A-Schwob
Forwarded
From Philadelphia Donauschwaben
As
a Danube Swabian...where in the world have you
been?
Feel
free to share pictures, memories, etc.
The idea is that Schwobs are, and have been,
everywhere in the world.
This
map just intends to prove it.
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
NOVEMBER
2009
Miniatur
Wunderland
Hamburg,
Germany
Forwarded
by Jon C. Zimmerman
Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg,
Germany is the world’s largest model
train set. It measures a whopping 11,
840 square feet, but that size is hard
to comprehend until you watch this
video.
This is the world's biggest train set
which covers 1,150
square meters (12,380 square feet),
features almost six
miles of track and is still not
complete.
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Twin
brothers Frederick and
Gerrit
Braun, 41, began work
on
the 'Miniatur Wunderland' in
2000
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The
set covers six regions
including
America
, Switzerland , Scandinavia ,
Germany
and the Austrian Alps.
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The
American section features
giant
models
of the Rocky Mountains,
Everglades,
Grand Canyon ...
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...and
Mount Rushmore
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The
Swiss section has
a
mini-Matterhorn
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The
Scandinavian part has a 4ft
long
passenger
ship floating in a 'ford'
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It
is expected to be finished in
2014, when the
train
set will cover more than 1,800
square
meters
(19, 376 sq ft) and
feature almost 13
miles
of track, by which time
detailed models
of
parts of France, Italy and the
UK
will have
been
added.
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It
comprises 700 trains with
more than
10,000
carriages and wagons.
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train is 46ft long. |
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The
scenery includes 900 signals,
2,800
buildings, 4,000 cars
-
many with illuminated
headlights...
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160,000
individually
designed figures.
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Thousands
of kilograms of steel
and
wood was used
to
construct the scenery...
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The
250,000 lights are rigged up
to
a system which mimics night
and
day by automatically turning
them
on and off
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The
whole system is controlled
from
a massive high-tech nerve
center.
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In
total the set has taken
500,000
hours
and more than 8 million
to
put together, the vast
majority
of
which has come from ticket
sales.
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Gerrit
said: "Our idea was to
build
a
world that men, woman, and
children
can be equally astonished
and
amazed in"
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Frederik
added: "Whether gambling
in
Las Vegas , hiking in the Alps
or
paddling
in Norwegian fords
-
in Wunderland everything
is
possible"
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The
world's biggest model train set.
It comprises 700 trains with
more than 10,000 carriages and
wagons. The longest train is 46 ft
long.
The scenery includes 900 signals, 2,800
buildings, 4,000 cars - many with
illuminated headlights and 160,000
individually designed figures. Thousands
of kilograms of steel and wood was used
to construct the scenery.
The set is on display to the public and
is so big that they employ more than 160
people to show visitors around their
creation.
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