Case study · Vienna

Twenty-three gates that tell their story out loud.

In October 2024, the University of Vienna reopened its 23 Tore der Erinnerung at the Campus (former AKH) with redesigned barrier-free panels and a NaviLens code on each: the campus's memory, read aloud, in German and English.

Blue panel «Tore der Erinnerung – Nr. 18 Seligmann-Tor» dedicated to Franz Romeo Seligmann (1808–1892) in a passage of the Campus of the University of Vienna; at the bottom of the panel, a NaviLens code, a list of the 23 Tore and a schematic campus map

Vienna · Alsergrund

Campus of the University of Vienna (former Allgemeines Krankenhaus / Altes AKH)

23 Tore der Erinnerung

Gates and passages named after scientists linked to the university

October 2024

Reopening with new barrier-free panels + NaviLens codes

DE · EN · audio

Multilingual voice readout via NaviLens GO

The client

University of Vienna
Campus Altes AKH

The University of Vienna is the oldest German-speaking university, with nearly 90,000 students. Its Campus occupies the grounds of the former Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Alsergrund: 9 courtyards and 23 passages that, in 1998, were named Tore der Erinnerung in honour of figures linked to the institution.

In October 2024, as part of the «650 plus — History of the University of Vienna» project, the new panels were unveiled: revised texts, expanded biographies, an orientation map and a NaviLens code on each for audio readout.

The project sits within the University of Vienna barrierefrei portal — the institution's cross-cutting accessibility strategy for people with sensory, motor or cognitive disabilities.

§ The challenge

So the campus's memory speaks to everyone.

01
Memory without access is half-memory
Since 1998, the 23 campus passages have borne the names of historical figures of the University of Vienna. The original plaques were purely visual: for a blind, low-vision or non-German-reading person, the campus's memory layer remained silent.
02
An open, busy campus
The former AKH is today a public park, open day and night. Any solution had to work for students, the neighbourhood and visitors — without new furniture, no screens and no work on heritage walls.
03
A critical review of the narrative
The update was an opportunity to revise biographies and replace problematic figures. The new panels had to be beautiful, accessible and multilingual from day one — consistent with the «University of Vienna barrierefrei» portal.

Close-up of the new blue Tore der Erinnerung panel: square multicolour NaviLens code with the «NaviLens GO App · Accessible QR Code» mark and a white typographic list of the numbered Tore on a saturated university-blue background

§ The solution

One code per gate, the same biography read out loud.

Each of the 23 panels carries a NaviLens code next to the full list of Tore and a small campus map. With the NaviLens GO app, users detect the code from several metres away without aiming and listen to the full content in German or English.

The system coexists with the large, high-contrast typography of the new panels (designed for low vision) and with the digital version of the route on the 650 plus portal.

No work on the walls of the former AKH: the codes are printed on the panel itself — swappable and maintainable like any institutional signage.

§ Walking the Campus

From Hell-Tor to Tietze-Tor, leaving nobody behind.

«Tore der Erinnerung – Nr. 13 Hell-Tor» panel dedicated to the astronomer Maximilian Hell (1720–1792) mounted on a passage wall of the Campus, next to a grey metal gate; below, a NaviLens code and a list of the 23 gates with a mini campus map

«Tore der Erinnerung – Nr. 16 Richter-Tor» panel dedicated to the Romance philologist Elise Richter (1865–1943) in a vaulted passage of the Campus of the University of Vienna; in the background, a mother with a cargo bike and a child walk under autumn trees

«Tore der Erinnerung – Nr. 23 Tietze-Tor» panel dedicated to art historian Erica Tietze-Conrat (1883–1958), to the right of an arch opening onto a Campus courtyard with wooden benches and green trees

Close-up of the blue Tore der Erinnerung panel around the «New York University» section: white text on blue, a colour-coded NaviLens square with the «NaviLens GO App · Accessible QR Code» mark

Oblique side view of the blue Tore der Erinnerung panel with the full list of the 23 Tore in two columns and, above it, the NaviLens code framed in white

«Tore der Erinnerung – Nr. 18 Seligmann-Tor» panel dedicated to Franz Romeo Seligmann (1808–1892), the first professor of History of Medicine at the University of Vienna

The 23 Tore cross the 9 courtyards of the Campus and form a continuous route: from Bühler-Tor and Sonnenfels-Tor to Tietze-Tor, passing Freud-Tor, Suess-Tor, Holzknecht-Tor, Bolla-Kotek-Tor, Hell-Tor, Richter-Tor, Seligmann-Tor or Browne-Tor.