Worms University of Applied Sciences’ digital app at the Hei

The project centred on the development of a mobile application for the ‘Heiliger Sand’ Jewish cemetery in Worms, the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe. The aim was to bring this historic cultural monument to life for tourists and the wider public, and to convey knowledge in an innovative way.

To this end, storytelling was used as a methodological approach: factual information was woven into narrative stories, enabling visitors to experience the site in a way that is both emotionally engaging and informative. The app was developed as part of an interdisciplinary course at Worms University of Applied Sciences in collaboration between the Faculties of Tourism/Transport and Computer Science.

The project demonstrates how mobile communication technologies can be utilised in destination marketing and can be applied to other fields such as cultural and industrial heritage sites, museums, urban and cultural tourism, as well as modern experiential environments for brand promotion. Led by Prof. Jan Drengner and Prof. Dr Werner König. Students were actively involved in the design and implementation.

• Interdisciplinary teamwork (collaboration between tourism/transport and computer science)
• Project-based work throughout the semester (from conception to implementation)
• Storytelling as a didactic and methodological approach to knowledge transfer
• Target audience analysis and content research (tourism students)
• Technical conception, design and programming (computer science students)

• 1 semester (2016)
• Teaching project / Interdisciplinary seminar