Museé Miniature et Cinéma: The Museum of Miniatures

Museé Miniature et Cinéma or “the Miniature and Cinema Museum” is located at 60 Rue Saint-Jean in Lyon, France, housed in a magnificent 16th century building. Founded by artist Dan Ohlmann, the museum showcases Ohlmann's two main passions - the art of dioramas and the art of film sets and special effects. The museum holds over a hundred miniature scenes containing thousands of pieces of tiny props – a zen temple in Japan, a Lyons weaving shop, a school classroom. All elements are built faithfully to the scale of 1:12 by the master craftsman himself, as well as by artists from around the world that Ohlmann had collected during his travels. The subtle lighting arrangement, the painstaking replication of old textures, and the use of the same original materials are so detailed that if it wasn’t for the size, they could be easily mistaken for the originals.

In another section of museum, you will find artefacts of Dan Ohlmann’s other passion - movie special effects. Over 300 props and objects including actual miniature film sets, costumes, models, masks, prosthetic make-up, fake animals, robots, monsters and aliens make up this section of the museum. Many of these pieces were acquired from the biggest American, British, German and French studios after their use on set allowing visitors to better grasp the wonders created by special effects wizards. This rare collection contains original props from films such as "Gladiator", "Aliens", "Independence day", "Minority Report" and more.

In addition, the museum also houses some of the most elaborate and delicate pieces - chiselled eggs, micro paper art, origami, and sculpted matches, that demonstrate the creators’ patience and skill.

Formerly a cabinetmaker and inner architect, Dan Ohlmann started creating scale furniture in Paris in 1985. The first creation that shot him to international fame was a 1/12th-scale model of the world famous Chez Maxim’s restaurant in Paris which he made in 1987. Ohlmann’s first museum - the Palais de la Miniature (The Miniature Palace) – was opened two years later. For over ten years, the Palais de la Miniature exhibited more than 1,000 miniature masterpieces from all over the world. In 2003, a renowned Swiss collector offered to develop Dan Ohlmann’s small family-size museum into a much larger venue, and the new museum opened its doors in 2005.