Numerical and analogue modeling provides insights into dynamic processes shaping convergent plate boundaries. In the case of the Variscan orogeny, efforts to explain observations using physics-based models started in the late 1990s with 2D numerical simulations and have evolved towards advanced 2D petrological–thermomechanical numerical simulations and limited analogue experiments. Here, we review and discuss advances in six key research directions: (1) pre-orogenic processes, (2) buoyancy-versus tectonics-driven exhumation of high-pressure–high-temperature rocks, (3) relamination and trans-lithospheric diapirism, (4) origin of complex pressure–temperature paths, (5) origin of crust–mantle rock associations, and (6) origin of ultra-potassic and alkaline magmatism. We conclude by outlining future research directions that require the continuation of joint cross-disciplinary efforts of “modelers” and “observers.”