One of the major reasons we wanted to visit Hamburg was because of Miniatur Wunderland. Most people we told were a little confused as to why we were so excited.. and then they watched the official video and totally understood.
Miniatur Wunderland has 6,400 square metres of floorspace with 1,150 square metres of miniature models depicting the Austria and the Alps, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, and Switzerland plus Harz, the fictitious city of Knuffingen. There are also dioramas depicting the history of Germany in stage, which were amazing and informative. There are plans to expand the museum and they're currently working on Italy, followed by France in 2017, and then England in 2019.
This place is absolutely phenomenal; not only can you get really close to the displays, you can also watch the creators at work, and view the monitors the staff use to make sure everything is running smoothly. The museum has the largest model railway in the world and a working airport complete with a departures and arrivals board.
The craftsmanship involved in developing the Miniatur Wunderland is mind blowing; we spent a good couple of hours there and found, after a while, it becomes really difficult to take everything in and focus on the incredible attention to detail. There is just so much to see and I will definitely be revisiting in the future once they've built a miniature England.
If you want to see all of them, take a look at my travel album.