In a miniature world, climate change and environmental issues loom large

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Watching his dad make a brand-new miniature train car look old, placing the wooden parts to weather in the sun and rain, pulled Peter Martínez into the world of miniatures. He recalls his father, who made model trains mostly for collectors or hobbyists, wondering why anyone would pay him to do what he thought was the most fun part of the hobby.

“But luckily they did, and we were able to build an industry around it," Martínez said.

The Argentine family business, United Scale Arts, is now partnering with Germany's Miniatur Wunderland, a museum that houses the largest model train set in the world, to develop new exhibits depicting parts of South America, including the Amazon rainforest and Atacama Desert. But with miniature power comes great responsibility — and both Martínez’s company and the museum are determined that the miniature world reflect both the good and bad of the real thing.

So alongside the perfectly shaded rocks and trees, they depict poverty, crime and environmental degradation. In the exhibits already running in Hamburg, built by a team that has grown over the years to hundreds of people, it means that tiny trains pull tiny coal cars into a mining town, but also, on a city bridge, a tiny semitruck hauls the tiny giant blade of a wind turbine.

And the builders say it means the new models won't shy away from illustrating real life in the Amazon: they will include scenes of illegal mining, deforestation and forest fires.

“These are social problems that exist in the real world, and we need to show them also in the models, because I think it’s important not to make this kind of idealistic view of the world, but also to show reality and to use these tools as a learning experience for everyone that visits the Wunderland,” Martínez said.

Visitors have a lot to see in the multistory warehouse that is Wunderland. From Las Vegas to Miami Beach, from Rio de Janeiro to Monaco, cars zoom past tiny replicas of buildings as throngs of people, with heads smaller than your fingernail, mill about famous landmarks.

Cargo ships dominate the glasslike surface of a tiny bay as they chug in with their deliveries. Planes taxi down the runway of an airport. And of course, plenty of trains roll through every landscape to the delight of kids and adults alike.

Twin brothers Gerrit and Frederik Braun joined with business partner Stephan Hertz and took out a loan to create Miniatur Wunderland after they left the nightclub business. Frederik had visited a model railroad shop in Zurich, called his brother and suggested they create their own — but a whole lot bigger.

Gerrit laughed at first. Unlike his brother, he loved the nightclub. But he eventually agreed and now can't imagine doing anything else.

“It’s a dream come true that we sit here 25 years later, and playing all day,” he said, chuckling.

But he takes the work seriously. The brothers came up with most of the initial plans for the museum within two weeks, Gerrit said. It's grown in scope and ambition since then.

“Ten years ago, we were looking to the old section and saw the real world has changed in this time,” Gerrit said. They realized they needed to update the exhibits to include technologies like electric cars, wind turbines, nuclear power and more. “I have children, and I believe in global warming and I’m sure that we have done it ... So if you believe in this, and you have the possibility to show the images, why not?"

There's no one process by which the designers and model builders decide what to include in their models, but as they have added to the collection, they haven't shied away from depicting technology or from political or contentious topics.

In 2017, when Donald Trump was first elected U.S. president, the Wunderland put up a model concrete wall with barbed wire around the section with the American landscapes. In 2019, Wunderland launched a scathing exhibit on the treatment of animals in large-scale farming that sparked deep criticism from the agriculture industry.

Next came weeks of conversation, farm visits and the eventual launch of a special exhibit aimed at depicting the current reality of pig farming, featuring industrial production and organic farms.

They're usually striving to depict the world exactly as it is. But building models also reminds Gerrit that “you can build the world a little bit like you want,” he said.

It’s an art form that can have practical purposes but also can capture longing, nostalgia or other feelings about a particular time or place, said Kit Maxwell, a curator with The Art Institute of Chicago, which houses the popular Thorne Miniature Rooms.

“One of the most compelling things about these rooms is that you imagine yourself in them," he said.

Aware of that power of imagination,Martínez also said builders have to be careful not to unfairly cast countries in a bad light as they seek to include imperfections.

“You need to kind of balance, when you show the bad things in contrast with the good things, that they are not overdone or they are not too much,” he said. “You want also that the people that go there have a good time and not get really sad after seeing this model.”

Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Miniature graffiti at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, is visible on a scene made to look like Mairinque, Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Miniature homes and a church are made to look like Ouro Preto, Brazil, at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Miniature trees are constructed at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Miniature homes at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, are assembled to look like Manaus, Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Miniature mines of Brazil are depicted at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A miniature version of Mairinque, Brazil, is worked on at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A miniature tree is painted in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Vendors are depicted in a miniature version of of Ouro Preto, Brazil, at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A miniature home made to look like it is in Mairinque, Brazil, is constructed at a workshop in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Workers in Pilar, Argentina, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, construct a miniature version of Mairinque, Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims from around the world congregated on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the second official day of the annual Islamic pilgrimage, considered the pinnacle of the Hajj.

Despite the sweltering heat, the pilgrims gathered on the rocky hill and surrounding plain for intense prayers and worship that often mark a spiritual peak for them. They fervently murmured prayers and poured their hearts out in supplications. Many raised their hands in worship. It is common for pilgrims on that day, some with tears streaming down their faces, to ask God for forgiveness, mercy, blessings and good health.

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime for every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to perform it.

For pilgrims, the Hajj, performed over several days, can be a deeply moving spiritual experience and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins. As they brave the intense heat to perform religious rituals, many pilgrims have been using umbrellas for shade.

A Saudi official said on Friday that more than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in the country from abroad.

This year, Muslims have been pouring into Saudi Arabia for the Hajj against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related uncertainty in the region.

The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats used to lay mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely." Iran on Tuesday denounced the most recent U.S. strikes as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations pressed on toward a possible deal to end the war.

For many, performing the Hajj can be a realization of a lifelong dream as they spend years hoping and praying to one day be able to undertake the pilgrimage or saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the trip.

“This happens once in a lifetime,” Mohammad Asal, an Egyptian pilgrim, said. “People here have prepared their prayers, hoping that God will respond to them, because we know that ... the most important ritual of the Hajj is being in Arafat.”

The Hajj brings together large numbers of Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and socioeconomic classes, creating a sense of unity for many. It’s a mass, communal experience, with Muslims performing rituals together. But it is also deeply personal, as every pilgrim brings their own yearnings and experiences.

“It was incredible,” Ahmed Sufyan, a pilgrim from the United States, said on Tuesday. “The unity and peace that we feel is something I’ve never experienced before,” he added via WhatsApp.

“Our wishes are many,” Mohammad Obaid, a Sudanese pilgrim, said, adding he was praying for Sudan and Muslims everywhere.

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A Muslim pilgrim pray atop of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims walk towards the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims are silhouetted as they pray at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims pray at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims read a copy of Islam's holy book Quran atop of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)