Mini Europe

Mini-Europe is a park that is located in Bruparck , at the foot of the Atomium in Brussels . In the park are monuments of the European Union in the scale modeled 1:25. Approximately 80 cities and 350 houses are shown.

View from the Atomium to Mini-Europe

The park is known for the quality of its models, some of which cost up to 350,000 euros ( Grand-Place / Grote Markt of Brussels). There are many animations in the park (including trains, mills, the eruption of Vesuvius, Airbus, remote-controlled trucks). At the end of the tour through the park is the interactive exhibition "Spirit of Europe", in which the European Union is presented through a series of interactive games.

The park is located on an area of 24,000 m². The basic investment in the park up to its opening by Prince Philippe in 1989 was 500 million Belgian francs (10 million euros).

With 300,000 visitors per year (1997) and a turnover of 3 million euros, Mini-Europe is a major tourist attraction in Brussels.

Building the models

The models were chosen because of their special architecture and their symbolic power within Europe. After this initial preselection, plans and photographs of the selected models had to be obtained. This preparatory phase cost more than 200,000 euros.

Most of the monuments were made by a casting process. The parts are made from different materials. A silicone copy is then made using a casting process . The final copy is made of epoxy resin (at the beginning) and polyester (at the moment). Three monuments were made of stone (e.g. the Leaning Tower of Pisa, of marble ). New computer milling technology was used in two models .

Finally the models are painted. After completion, the monuments will be installed on site. The surroundings and the light are adapted there. The miniature of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela took 24,000 hours of work.

Many monuments were financed by the European countries or regions.

Spirit of Europe

At the end of the tour there is an area dedicated to the European Union . In the form of games, the history, the success, the culture, the functioning of the institutions, the common internal market and the reasons for enlargement are briefly presented here. There are a number of teaching projects for schools.

Mini-Europe receives moral support from the European Commission and the European Parliament for all of its activities .

Models

European Union

The European Union is represented by the Berlaymont building , the seat of the European Commission , and by an inconspicuous building near Paris, in which Jean Monnet prepared the Robert Schuman Declaration , which is the starting point of the European Union.

Collégiale Notre-Dame de Dinant
Alden Biesen Castle
Royal Crescent
Dover Castle
Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre
Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial
Bullring Seville
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
Eltz Castle
Mogoșoaia Castle

Belgium

Belgium is represented by

the Curtius house in Liège ,
the Vêves Castle (in the municipality of Celles , in the valley of Ry, a tributary of the Lesse )
the college of Dinant ,
the town hall and guildhouses of Brussels,
the city hall in Antwerp with the Brabo fountain and the guild houses in front of it ,
the town hall in Leuven ,
the Rabot (a lifting bridge with a barrage and towers) and the Graselei (a street with a grain market) in Ghent ,
the Gerberplatz and the Belfry in Bruges ,
the German order coming Alden Biesen ,
a drilling platform.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is represented by the Rila Monastery .

Denmark

Denmark is represented by the reconstruction of the Viking castle Trelleborg and the Nyhavn as well as the stock exchange in Copenhagen .

Germany

Brandenburg Gate with the Berlin Wall

Germany is represented by

the Holsten Gate in Lübeck ,
the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin ,
the Speyer Cathedral ,
the millennium tower - the landmark of the federal horticultural show in the Elbauenpark in Magdeburg ,

the Osthofentor in Soest ,

the Beethoven House in Bonn ,

the Porta Nigra in Trier ,

The Burg Eltz ,

the pilgrimage church in Wies (Bavaria).

Estonia

Estonia is represented by the cannon tower in Tallinn , also called "Fat Margaret", probably named after Queen Margaret of Denmark .

Finland

Olavinlinna

Finland is represented by the Olavinlinna Castle .

France

Center Georges-Pompidou

France is represented by

the Eiffel Tower ,

the Arc de Triomphe as well

the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Paris ,

the pilgrimage church of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp ,

the Clos de Vougeot castle ,

the Chenonceau castle ,

the Royal Saltworks in Arc-et-Senans ,

Airbus aircraft,

the Thalys high-speed train ,

a port (symbolizing the major European ports - Marseille in France, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Antwerp in Belgium, Hamburg in Germany).

A model of the Ariane 5 launcher is available for the French overseas territories .

The Center Georges-Pompidou Museum

Greece

Greece is represented by the Acropolis in Athens .

Great Britain

Palace of Westminster

Longleaf House

Great Britain is represented by

the Houses of Parliament ,
the birthplace of William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon and
his wife's birthplace ( Anne Hathaway Cottage) - a rural Elizabethan house in the village of Shottery 1.5 km away,
typical English building in the English Village - with St. Mary's Church and St. John Church, butcher's shop, post office and pub,
Longleat House (the estate of the Marquis of Bath ),
The Circus and The Royal Crescent in Bath ,
the Pride of Dover (a jumbo class canal ferry ),
Dover Castle on the white chalk cliffs in Dover as well
the row of houses Athol Terrace at the foot of the chalk cliff and
a model of the Eurotunnel .

Ireland

Ireland is represented by

the monastery complex in Glendalough ( Kevin's Church with a 33 m high steeple),
the Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry
St. Patrick's Rock in Cashel ( Rock of Cashel ).

Italy

Italy is represented by

the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Campanile),
the Romanesque cathedral of Pisa ,
the baptistery in Pisa ,
the Trevi Fountain in Rome
the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena ,
the volcano Vesuvius on the Gulf of Naples ,
the southern Italian town of Alberobello with its trulli (houses with conical roofs),
the Doge's Palace in Venice and
the Villa Rotonda near Vicenza .

Croatia

St. Mark's Church

Croatia is represented by the St. Mark's Church in Zagreb .

Latvia

Latvia is represented by the Freedom Monument in Riga .

Lithuania

Lithuania is represented by the University of Vilnius .

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is represented by the Adolphe Bridge .

Malta

Temple of Mnajdra

Malta is represented by the Temple of Mnajdra (3500 BC).

The Netherlands

The Netherlands are represented by

the town hall in Maastricht ,
the medieval castle Hoensbroek near Heerlen in South Limburg ,
Trade and farm houses in Ootmarsum ,
the patrician house Kloveniersdoelen in Middelburg ,
Farmhouses in the museum village of Orvelte (Province of Drenthe ),
the Gasthaus Waage in Alkmaar ,
the windmills in Kinderdijk ,
Canals in Amsterdam ,
Houses of the Doelenkade in Hoorn and
the town hall and two houses in Veere .

Austria

Melk Abbey

Austria is represented by Melk Abbey .

Poland

Poland is represented by

the Artus Court with the opposite
Fountain of Neptune in Gdansk and
the Three Crosses memorial (dedicated to the naval base workers killed in 1970).