The Speicherstadt was constructed on some 3.5 million timber-pile foundations between 1883 and the end of the 1920s. It served predominantly for the storage of coffee, tea and spices, until the arrival of containerships made storage less important. Other than carpets little is stored here these days, instead making way for advertising agencies and catering establishments to move here. Exhibitions have also been installed in the red brick buildings, for instance the Miniatur Wunderland, the world's biggest model railway display, that attracts over a million visitors every year.