Lutherstadt Wittenberg reforms town signposting

The Protestant Church Congress, the World Exhibition Reformation of the Lutheran World Federation and the anniversary year 2017: numerous events bring an enormous increase in visitors to Lutherstadt. Showing tourists from all over the world the way to places of interest, illustrating historical facts and background information on site: this is what the new city center signage system from meng does. Desk signs and steles made of V4A stainless steel were inscribed according to the graphic specifications of the Jo Schaller office from Halle in a vandalism-proof and barrier-free manner and were professionally integrated into the listed environment.

Historical photographs and maps were extensively researched by Lutherstadt in advance and made available from private collections. The explanatory descriptions are presented in English for the international public. The palpable QR code allows even visually impaired visitors to listen to the texts in German or English via a mobile phone app.

A particular challenge was the time schedule and the coordination with other construction measures in the city centre. A large number of events, the necessary infrastructure measures and temporary constructions required close coordination with the city administration. The historical surroundings were extensively documented photographically before the start of the installation work for the new control system and were restored to their original condition after the foundations were laid. With a pronounced awareness of detail, even the joint material between the different pavements was reconstructed as if it had never looked any different. All visible surfaces of the different types of stelae are fixed without any noticeable fixings. Thus neither photos nor text are disturbed or constructively restricted by screwed connections. With their illuminated side edges, the stelae show the way to the city's sights even in the dark.