On September 17, 2016, I bought my first model figures: two people on a bench and a skier.
The next day, I went to downtown Leeuwarden with my niece Jasmijn. While sitting on the terrace of De Koperen Tuin, we came up with ideas to bring the miniature figures to life in different locations.
We walked through the Prinsentuin towards the Oldehoofsterkerkhof, stopping along the way at scattered rock formations. The skier seemed like a fun figure to place there. At that time, I hadn’t even thought about snow yet.
In one of the photos, you can see Jasmijn concentrating as she takes a picture of the skier. In another photo, I—22 kg heavier than I am now—am also photographing the skier. We took many pictures that afternoon, and I immediately thought: this is amazing to do!
We continued to the Oldehoofsterkerkhof, where we placed the couple on a bench at the edge of the square. We took photos with the Oldehove in the background.
People passing by stopped out of curiosity and asked what we were photographing. Their reactions were very positive.
Later, I posted a photo on social media and received a message from Omroep Friesland asking: May we use your post for a segment?
That evening, Miniature People Leeuwarden was featured for 13 seconds on TV. At the time, I never imagined that I would eventually create a Miniature People Leeuwarden route, attracting tens of thousands of visitors—both nationally and internationally—to Leeuwarden to walk the route.
Did you know that you can buy the route booklet from us? For more information, please visit the reception.
Are you curious about Miniature People and would like to know more? Click on the link below.