Wall goes up around America at miniature world in Germany

BERLIN -- A wall has appeared around the United States -- at a popular miniature world attraction in the German city of Hamburg.

Operators of the Miniatur Wunderland erected the wall, complete with barbed wire, this week, separating the U.S. display from the rest of the world.

The site is one of Hamburg's most popular tourist attractions, featuring a vast indoor model railway stretching across two floors.

Co-founder Gerrit Braun said Thursday the idea for the wall arose after staff discussed whether the U.S. display needed changing to reflect "current developments."

Braun said the wall wasn't meant to represent U.S. President Donald Trump's promised concrete barrier along the border with Mexico. Instead, it was intended to encourage visitors to think about what happens "when we build ideological walls around our countries."

Visitors on Tuesday to the miniature wonderland in Hamburg, Germany, can only look at a model landscape of the United States from behind a wall.Christian Charisius ~ dpa via AP