Diorama (Efteling)
Encyclopedia
The Diorama is a miniature world in Efteling
amusement park
in the Netherlands
. The highly detailed mountainous world, or Diorama
, was designed by Anton Pieck
and opened its doors in 1971, in honour of the 20th birthday of Efteling .
The visitors can walk around a 60 metre long show-case with mountains, little villages, castles and churches, moving trains and automobiles and flowing water. Most of the Diorama is set in day-time, but a smaller part is devoted to night-time
The landscape has been built entirely out of styrofoam
. The Diorama is the first attraction with contributions of Ton van de Ven
, the creative director of Efteling at that time. He made some sketches for it, but they weren’t used for the Diorama; years later they were used for one of the scenes in the dark-ride Dreamflight
.
Efteling
Efteling is the largest theme park in the Netherlands, and as it opened in 1952, it is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. Efteling is located in the town of Kaatsheuvel, in the municipality of Loon op Zand, and has received over 100 million visitors....
amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The highly detailed mountainous world, or Diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
, was designed by Anton Pieck
Anton Pieck
Anton Franciscus Pieck , a Dutch painter, artist and graphic artist...
and opened its doors in 1971, in honour of the 20th birthday of Efteling .
The visitors can walk around a 60 metre long show-case with mountains, little villages, castles and churches, moving trains and automobiles and flowing water. Most of the Diorama is set in day-time, but a smaller part is devoted to night-time
The landscape has been built entirely out of styrofoam
Styrofoam
Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene...
. The Diorama is the first attraction with contributions of Ton van de Ven
Ton van de Ven
Ton van de Ven is a Dutch industrial designer. He is best known as the creative director at the Efteling theme park.Van de Ven was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands, where he also studied at the Design Academy.- Work at Efteling :...
, the creative director of Efteling at that time. He made some sketches for it, but they weren’t used for the Diorama; years later they were used for one of the scenes in the dark-ride Dreamflight
Dreamflight
Dreamflight is a dark ride in Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and opened in 1993.-History:...
.
Trivia
- One of the wooden bridges over the railroad tracks in the first scene has collapsed and a new wooden bridge has been built next to it. It seems to be a creative idea, but it was actually stepped on by one of the builders by accident.
- Exceptionally, MärklinMärklinGebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Wurttemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys...
for many years manufactured the Minex steam trains specially for Efteling.