Legoland Deutschland was opened by the
LEGO Group on May 17, 2002, in
Günzburg, Germany, nine months earlier than planned. During the initial operating year, the park welcomed 1.35 million visitors. In 2005 the four Legoland parks were sold to
Merlin Entertainments in a 375 million Euro deal. Although generally credited as the fourth Legoland park to open and the first in Germany, an earlier theme park (now
Hansa-Park) in
Sierksdorf used the Legoland branding under licence from the Lego Group from 1973 to 1976. All of the lighting for the park was done by Gallegos Lighting Design which had done the lighting for
Legoland California and the sound and video production for the park was done by Edward Technologies Inc. When it opened in 2002, it contained 40 attractions, 7 themed lands and was made out of 50 million Lego bricks. Legoland Deutschland also contains many other world records such as the largest Lego flower bed (2007), largest amount of energy generated through cycling underwater (2010), highest Lego tower (2010), largest Lego mosaic (2011), longest Lego millipede (2002), and the largest Lego brick (2005). The park celebrated its ten-year anniversary in 2012: in that occasion, the attraction
Flying Ninjago debuted, and six scenes in Miniland based on the
Lego Ninjago toy series were added. On April 22, 2013, Merlin Entertainments Group introduced an app entitled “LEGOLAND Deutschland” available for
Android and
Apple devices. The app features an interactive park map, ticket purchasing, a “Find my car” feature, and a day planner that has all of the day's events listed for visitors. In 2013, the CEO of the park, Aksel Pedersen, announced the largest expansion in the history of Legoland Deutschland and consisted of 86,000 Lego bricks. The park expanded by building the “Kingdom of the Pharaohs” themed land within
Adventure Land which added the ride
"Temple X-pedition". Also Legoland introduced the new Königsburg hotel with 68 rooms. On March 28, 2015, Martin Kring, the then new general manager of Legoland, introduced the LEGO City Polizeistation, a walkthrough maze with special effects. The attraction was built into an existing building in the Imagination themed area. In 2016 High Five in Miniland and the new Drachenburg at Holiday Village were opened. In 2017 Ninjago World was opened based on the
Lego Ninjago theme. The area includes
LEGO Ninjago: The Ride and
Lloyd’s Spinjitzu Spinner (opened in 2020). The following year, Legoland opened its next hotel. The
Pirateninsel Hotel (Pirate Island Hotel) is based on a pirate theme and was constructed at a price of 26,6 million Euros. The building offers place for up to 594 guests. On May 10, 2019, Manuela Stone, the former
F&B director, took over the position as general manager from Martin Kring. In 2020, because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the park opened late on May 30 with only half of the normal capacity. On August 11, 2022, two roller coasters at the theme park collided with one another, causing more than thirty injuries. In September 2022, it was announced that the park would be receiving €15.5 million investment for the creation of a new area to open at the start of the 2023 season. The new area would follow the LEGO Mythica theme first found at
Legoland Windsor Resort. Spanning 1.2 hectares the new area would be the largest and most expensive expansion of the park since its opening in 2002. The
drop tower is named Fire & Ice Tower and stands at 9 meters tall, this attraction also featured as a part of the original LEGO Mythica installment at
Legoland Windsor Resort. The rollercoaster is a
Bolliger & Mabillard Wing coaster named Maximus - Der Flug des Wächters (Maximus - The Guardians Flight) currently the only one of its type in a Legoland park, the ride features two
inversions and is also the only Legoland roller coaster to feature inversions. The area's opening coincided with the beginning of the 2023 season on the March 25, 2023. On June 30, 2023, it was announced that a second park would open in the resort in 2024, based on the animated television series
Peppa Pig called
Peppa Pig Park Günzburg. It will be located next to the Legoland Deutschland theme park and is the second Legoland resort to receive a non-Lego attraction and
Peppa Pig theme park after
Florida. The park opened on May 19, 2024. ==Rides and attractions==