Like Jonathan Swifts Gulliver in the Land of the Dwarfs, the visitor to the Little Big City at the foot of the TV tower feels like a giant himself. Here it puffs and chokes, smokes and burns and even sings. 6000 hand-painted figurines in scale 1:24 show seven epochs of the history of the city Berlin – with great craftsmanship and very much attention to detail.
The hologram of the fictitious little Berliner “Fritz Groß” leads through the exhibition, sometimes Fritz is a harlequin, sometimes a frontier soldier – a Berliner in the changing times.
The show was partly developed and manufactured in London. It is quite obvious that the experts of Madame Tussauds brought in their expertise. Many contemporaries were interviewed for the historical scenes. The idea is “to make many small stories visible in the context of history,” explains press officer Anne Marczinczek, “our claim is, that every visitor gets to know at least one story about Berlin, which he did not know before”.
Also many celebrities can be met in Little Big City: Albert Einstein is on the way by bike on Potsdamer Platz. Wilhelm Röntgen carries his own X-ray image in front of the Anhalter Bahnhof and the first electrical traffic light in Berlin is proudly presented by the famous German engineer Werner von Siemens.
Children love the interactive elements of the exhibition. An eleven-year-old visitor in the mediaeval Berlin lets a red knight kick a tournament against a yellow knight. Later on he sends a horse cart against an automobile during the industrial time of Berlin. In the Weimar period, one can choose whether Marlene Dietrich sings in the winter garden or Great Houdini shows his magic show. Highlight: With a wall piece – lever you can become part of history yourself and tear down the Berlin wall!
The largest area of the exhibition is dedicated to Berlin as a divided city. Here Kennedy can be seen in front of the Schöneberg City Hall holding his famous speech “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Fascinating also: The 40th anniversary of the GDR in front of an incredibly detailed Palace of the Republic, together with Mini-Honecker and Mini-Gorbachev in the grandstand!
The probably most elaborate and greatest attraction of Little Big City is the miniature of the Berlin Reichstag, not yet with the dome by Sir Norman Foster, but with the original dome by Paul Wallot. By projectmapping, a very elaborate video technology with seven projectors from different angles, the perplexed guest experiences how the Reichstag in 1933 rises in flames and the Wallot dome collapses.
At the end of the exhibition, press a button and you can see the Brandenburg Gate, illuminated by a great New Year’ firework!
