The exhibition
East Frisia at 1:87 scale – built by hand, kept moving by technology, and full of details you only spot the second time round.
The model world
From the harbour into the marshland
The layout shows East Frisia as one continuous landscape: the harbour of Leer flows into the river Ems, and behind it lie dikes, marshland and open country. In between are villages, stations, farms and windmills – each scene in its geographically correct place.
The layout was built in house. Many buildings are one-off models of real places; other scenes tell invented stories from the region.
Highlights
What to look out for
Day turning into night
About 20 minutes of day, two to three minutes of dusk, five minutes of night – then the light returns. Street lamps come on, windows light up, floodlights sweep across the harbour. Stay a moment and you see the same scene twice, completely differently.
Harbour & the Ems
Quay walls, cranes and the open Ems stretching out to the water – one of the scenes people linger at longest. A ship makes its way right through it.
Trains in motion
Passenger and freight trains on several lines, plus shunting at the station – controlled by a digital layout control system.
Small stories
Coffee on the dike, the fire brigade at work, a cyclist in the ditch: scenes to discover are spread across the whole layout.
Day & night
When the lights go down
The whole layout changes: street lamps come on, thousands of windows light up, cars and trains run with their lights on. The same landscape, an entirely different picture.
Impressions
Pictures from the layout
Good to know
For your visit
- Allow at least 1.5 hours for the exhibition.
- Photography is allowed.
- Raised platforms make sure children can see everything too.
- The exhibition is fully indoors – a good choice when it rains.
- All on one level; the upper floor is reached by lift.
Tempted?
Opening hours, admission prices and reductions are all on one page.
April to OctoberCurrent
- Mondayclosed
- Tuesday10:00–17:00
- Wednesday10:00–17:00
- Thursday10:00–17:00
- Friday10:00–17:00
- Saturday10:00–17:00
- Sunday10:00–17:00