Planning a Trip to Germany — Any Model Exhibitions Worth Visiting?

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Potaka

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Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip to Germany sometime soon, and I'm really interested in checking out some model exhibitions while I'm there. I'm into military models, railway models, and other scale models, so I was wondering if anyone knows about any good model shows or fairs happening in Germany?

From what I've heard, Germany has some big events like INTERMODELLBAU Dortmund, Modellbau Bremen, and Faszination Modellbau Friedrichshafen. Has anyone been to these or other exhibitions? How are they? Are they worth visiting for a model enthusiast?

Any tips on when and where to go, and maybe some advice on what else to check out nearby, would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
 
Potaka said:
INTERMODELLBAU Dortmund, Modellbau Bremen, and Faszination Modellbau Friedrichshafen.
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If you want to visit all of those, you have a good amount of travel ahead. Bremen is pretty far north in Germany, Friedrichshafen in the extreme south, and Dortmund somewhere in the middle :) 785 km and 7:47 hours by car, says the travel planner I just asked.

Of course, if you're North American, the distances involved are probably trivial to you ;)
 
Edbert said:
the Madurodam
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Just "Madurodam", without "the" :) Named after a student from Curaçao who joined the Dutch military when the Germans invaded in 1940 and, after surrender, became a resistance fighter and died in Dachau concentration camp shortly before it was liberated. -dam is a somewhat common suffix for placenames in the Netherlands (indicating a town at a place where a river has been dammed), which is probably why it was used for a miniature Netherlands when the park was established.

Edbert said:
Not in Germany specifically
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Not even not specifically, but not in Germany at all. In fact, almost as far as you can get from the German border and still be in the Netherlands :) (There are parts of the country still further away from Germany, but that would put you in the area I live in.)
 
Jakko said:
<snip> almost as far as you can get from the German border and still be in the Netherlands :)
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You know very well, based on your earlier post, that is not far at all. Besides it WAS in Germany just a few decades ago.

If you can drive there without a bathroom break, you're almost there already ;-)
 
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Jakko said:
If you want to visit all of those, you have a good amount of travel ahead. Bremen is pretty far north in Germany, Friedrichshafen in the extreme south, and Dortmund somewhere in the middle :) 785 km and 7:47 hours by car, says the travel planner I just asked.

Of course, if you're North American, the distances involved are probably trivial to you ;)
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Thanks for the info! Visiting all three would definitely be exhausting, so I'm thinking of just picking one for now. By the way, do you happen to know of any other exhibitions worth checking out? Ideally, I'd love to bring one of my own models and connect with fellow enthusiasts there.
 
Edbert said:
You know very well, based on your earlier post, that is not far at all.
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Yes, it only adds about 575 km and 6:30 hours to the trip :) (That is, Bremen → Dortmund → Scheveningen → Friedrichshafen compared to not going via Scheveningen.)

Edbert said:
Besides it WAS in Germany just a few decades ago.
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No, it wasn't, and has never been in Germany. You are alluding to the Second World War, in which the Netherlands remained an independent country even as far as Germany was concerned — it was occupied, but never annexed or otherwise incorporated into Germany. It was once part of the Holy Roman Empire, but it's a bit of a stretch to call that "Germany" in anything like the modern sense, and anyway, de facto left it in 1581 (de jure in 1648).

Potaka said:
do you happen to know of any other exhibitions worth checking out?
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Sorry, no … I don't generally go to model shows, especially not abroad, because of the distance to travel. However, Scalemates has a calendar of upcoming events that may help?

blakeh1 said:
There is Minitaur Wunderland in Hamburg
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I've never been there, but I definitely would if I found myself in the Hamburg area.
 
Jakko said:
Yes, it only adds about 575 km and 6:30 hours to the trip
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Just about the time it takes to drive from Central Texas (San Antonio) to North Texas (Dallas), which is an easy trip for most people.

6-7 hours (using your round-trip figures) is not even that long, you can drive for 13-14 hours one-way (and we have 75/80mph highways) and never leave Texas.

My point was, if you like miniatures/trains/models, and are already in Germany this would be a good place to checkout since it is just a short distance away. I'm positive that if you use Cologne as a starting point that you could drive much farther and still be in Germany, so crossing a border is irrelevant.
 
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Edbert said:
6-7 hours (using your round-trip figures) is not even that long
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There's that quote: In America a hundred years is a long time, in Europe a hundred {miles|kilometers} is a long way.

Edbert said:
you can drive for 13-14 hours one-way (and we have 75/80mph highways) and never leave Texas.
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From where I live, that will take you across at least two national borders even if you head east, taking you through Germany and Poland; you might even make it as far as the Ukrainian border in that time if you press on. Go south instead and you'll probably cross three — or five if you decide to go via Andorra ;)
 
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Jakko said:
There's that quote: In America a hundred years is a long time, in Europe a hundred {miles|kilometers} is a long way.
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That's a good one! The house my grandmother was born in has a "historical marker" on it, constructed 1851.


This one is quite old but seems applicable...

Heaven:
Where the police are British
The cooks are French
The mechanics German
The lovers Italian
Everything is run by the Swiss

Hell:
Where the chefs are British
The mechanics French
The lovers Swiss
The police German
Everything is run by the Italians
 
In the EU it has been said…
The British make the rules,
The Germans enforce the rules,
The Italians ignore the rules,
The French didn't know there was any feckin rules!
 
Jakko said:
The UK insisted that foreigners would only be able to stay in the EU for 90 days out of every 180. And then they did a Brexit :)
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No we didn't, that was the EU made that rule because we never signed the Schengen Agreement.
Because we're feckin idiots!
I laugh myself sick at those who voted for brexit and now complain they can't stay in their French homes for 91 days… twats.
I was a remainder for lots of reasons.
Mostly though because I'm NOT afraid of foreigners!
 
locomotive said:
No we didn't, that was the EU made that rule because we never signed the Schengen Agreement.
Because we're feckin idiots!
I laugh myself sick at those who voted for brexit and now complain they can't stay in their French homes for 91 days… twats.
I was a remainder for lots of reasons.
Mostly though because I'm NOT afraid of foreigners!
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Haha, politics aside, traveling in Europe definitely comes with its own set of rules and quirks! Hopefully everyone can enjoy their trips and experiences despite the red tape.
 


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