Barrier-free travel

 

Mainz – barrier-free
Mainz wants to make sure that all citizens and visitors can participate fully in social life and can move freely through the city.
On this page, we have compiled some information about barrier-free travel in Mainz. 


Barrier-free Tourist Service Center

 

To ensure that disabled people have full access to our services and offers, the Tourist Service Center was redesigned to be a barrier-free area a few years ago.
The shopping area is at the same level as the City Hall platform and can be reached by lift from the new bus stop at Rheinstrasse.
Tactile paving guides visitors from the "Am Brand" shopping mall to the entrance of the Tourist Service Center. The shopping area is designed so that wheelchair users can move around freely, and there are extra low shop counters. More information about barrier-free Mainz and a city guide in Braille (on loan against a deposit) are available at our counter. Special guided tours of the city for people with disabilities make Mainz accessible for everybody. Specially trained personnel make sure that visitors get any assistance they might require.

The Tourist Service Center offers an attractive range of souvenirs and provides competent tourist advice. Visitors can pick up brochures on sights, excursions, and events in Mainz and its hinterland, buy tickets for cultural events, book rooms and guided tours or make the most of one of our attractive city break packages.


Tactile paving in Mainz

To make it easy for visually impaired people to move through Mainz, the city has designed and implemented a guidance system with:

    Tactile paving and other tactile elements
    Pedestrian lights with an acoustic signal
    Voice announcements of stops in MVG public transport vehicles

Tactile paving

High-contrast, tactile paving is now a mandatory feature for all new road developments. They assist visually impaired pedestrians by guiding them to their destination, providing a good general spatial orientation, and warning them of obstacles and dangers.

The tactile paving in Mainz consists of slabs with longitudinal ribs. The alignment of the ribs indicates the direction of movement, with turn-off lines drawn across the entire pavement leading to entrances, bus stops, and lifts along the route.

Pedestrian lights

Mainz is currently upgrading all of its pedestrian lights to include an acoustic warning system. A continuous acoustic "ticking" signal makes it easy for visually impaired people to locate the pedestrian crossing. They can then press a button to change the pedestrian light to green, indicated by a "beeping" signal and/or a vibrating plate on the yellow box attached to the post, which also features a direction arrow.

Mainz mobility announcements and signage

The tannoy messages at train and bus stops, as well as the on-board announcements assist visitors who are not familiar with the city and visually impaired people to find their way through Mainz. There are also interactive buttons that can be pressed to hear the next bus or train departure.

To walk to the city centre, follow the tactile paving from Mainz City Hall or the Tourist Service Center, two buildings can be easily accessed from Rheinstrasse or Jockel-Fuchs-Platz.

MobileMenschen.de

MobileMenschen is a joined project of ivm GmbH, the local public transport company Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and the road authority of Hesse (Hessen Mobil). It provides a mobility information platform for the Frankfurt Rhine/Main region.
The platform lists and assesses many local points of interests, or POIs, in the area with regard to barrier-free access.
Users of the website can register additional POIs and update the information based on their own experience. All details can be printed in the form of a list or map.

For more information, click here.


Public toilets for disabled people

The online city map shows the locations of the public toilets for people with a disability. Toilets for disabled people:


In the Neustadt district:
Feldbergplatz
Frauenlobstrasse (near the New Synagogue and Christ Church)
Goetheplatz (near the main railway station)
Erthalstrasse (opposite the main railway station)

Along the Rhine:
At the Hilton Hotel
Kaiserstrasse 30 (near the Electoral Palace)

In the Oberstadt district:
Volkspark (mini-golf course)
Volkspark (roller-skating rink)
Eisgrubweg – near St. Stephen's (church with Chagall windows)
Stadtpark (Vogelpark)

In the city centre:
Kronberger Hof (EU key required) (near the State Theatre)
Badergasse 1 A (old city centre, near Frankfurter Hof)
Heugasse (near the cathedral)


Barrier-free conference facilities

mainzplus CITYMARKETING GmbH is the marketing organisation for the conference centres of Rheingoldhalle and the Electoral Palace. Rheingoldhalle is a congress centre located on the Rhine. It is physically connected to Hilton Hotel Mainz and is the ideal venue for large national and international conferences, trade fairs, and other events such as concerts and entertainment shows. Rheingoldhalle is fully wheelchair-accessible. Tactile paving leads visitors with disabilities to the main entrance, and a tactile model of the venue enables blind people to find their way around the centre. There is also a barrier-free toilet (adjustable in height, with gurney).


The Electoral Palace dating from the 17th century is one of the most beautiful Renaissance palaces of Europe. Given its status as a protected monument, only parts of the building could be made barrier-free. The entrance at Dieter-von-Isenburg-Strasse is level with the street pavement and has automatic doors. All rooms that are wheelchair-accessible can be reached by lift, and there are also barrier-free toilets. Due to its splendour and special charm, the palace is a popular venue for cultural events, conferences, and galas.


Website of city of Mainz

The website of the city of Mainz is designed so that people with impaired vision can get all the necessary information.