Miniatur Wunderland Unveils Massive Rainforest and Expansion Plans for 25th Anniversary

Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt has laid out a heavy expansion agenda tied to its 25th anniversary, posting an "Annual Outlook 2026" that teases collaborations, new special events, and important planni and names a rainforest as the centrepiece. The museum calls the rainforest "the most massive section of Wunderland to date" and says it is being created "together with the Martinez family in Buenos Aires."

The outlook specifies logistics: "The model will arrive in Hamburg by ship in March or April." Miniatur Wunderland adds that "to this end, the huge section has been divided into many individual parts" and that "Only here on site will the final details be added: figures, colors, small scenes, and liveliness." The organisation’s current public target frames the rainforest as a 2026 highlight: "There is no exact opening date yet, but the direction is clear: the rainforest should be ready for you to experience at the end of 2026."

Timelines for the South America expansion vary across sources. Miniatur Wunderland’s Annual Outlook gives the end-of-2026 readiness target for rainforest work; a Hamburg-travel summary states that "By the end of 2025, the Andes, the Rainforest, and the Atacama Desert are expected to be fully constructed. The opening of these new sections is planned for the first half of 2026." Wikipedia’s project table lists "Rainforest & Andes & Atacama Desert | (Under construction - September 2026) | ca. 170 m2," showing a third timeline that partially aligns with Wunderland’s end-2026 aim. Reporters should treat the Annual Outlook as Miniatur Wunderland’s declared target while noting these differing schedules.

Patagonia is already open and now "extends the South America world with a 65 square meter layout," a build that the notes say required more than 50,000 working hours and €2,000,000 in construction costs. The museum also groups Andes and Atacama with the rainforest into a roughly 170 m2 South America expansion and lists other planned areas: Central America & The Caribbean at ca. 67 m2 and Asia at ca. 150 m2, with Wikipedia citing Central America through end of 2027 and Asia through end of 2029.

Beyond layouts, Miniatur Wunderland plans a physical expansion of its visitor footprint. "A large new area in the warehouse opens up completely new possibilities for us. In 2026, we want to begin expanding Wunderland. The plan is to create a completely new entrance and shop area, just one floor below the current one." The Annual Outlook also signals marketing crossovers: "Wunderland can also be discovered in local transport and on the road with an S-Bahn train in Wunderland design, as well as a truck and a freight locomotive with special paintwork. All these vehicles will not only be on the move in the real world, but will of course also find their way into Wunderland – in true style on a scale of 1:87."

Practical visitor notes remain unchanged: Hamburg CARD holders receive a "€1 discount" only at the box office, and the museum warns "the number of visitors is sometimes very high. We recommend booking in advance to guarantee admission." The site’s technical scale underlines why the new rainforest matters: Miniatur Wunderland already runs around 1,230 digitally controlled trains with more than 12,000 wagons, about 5,280 houses and bridges, more than 11,800 vehicles, nearly 500,000 built-in LED lights, and models that occupy 1,694 m2 of the building’s 10,000 m2 floorspace.

Internal planning artifacts visible in the materials include "Yullbe [...] Wb 07 kw 43 2023 n 1200 plan regenwald," "Wb 03 kw 46 2024 n 1255 umbau," and the raw code string "16a47ea6 0261 4784 b651 bd190d461cbf." With shipment set for March or April and on-site detailing to follow, Miniatur Wunderland’s Annual Outlook positions 2026 as an intensive year of construction, new visitor flow, and anniversary programming that will reshape the Speicherstadt layout before the close of the year.