A special tour in Germany lets pedestrians experience life in a wheelchair

The Star

22-05-2025

'Lean your upper body forward!' shouts Rita Ebel, sharing practical advice for tackling access ramps – wisdom she has gained from years of experience navigating life in a wheelchair.
Ebel, who is also affectionately known as Lego Grandma, was paralysed after a car accident about 30 years ago. She and her team invite participants on an eye-opening tour of Hanau's city centre, near Frankfurt, Germany.
The man she calls out to is a 'pedestrian,' as Ebel likes to call non-wheelchair users.
As part of Ebel's 'Change of Perspective' project, pedestrians get a first-hand experience of moving around in a wheelchair.
Volunteers provide the wheelchairs and guide participants as they face challenges like steep ramps and high shop counters, revealing obstacles that are often invisible to non-disabled individuals.
Firm hands prevent a fall
Despite following Ebel's advice to lean forward and turn the wheels vigorously, a man attempting to navigate the ramp made of Lego bricks nearly tips over backward.
Quick reflexes from Gabriele Schaar-von Romer, a volunteer with Lego Grandma's team, and other participants save him from falling.
The experience leaves the novice wheelchair user breathless and with a newfound respect for the challenges of wheelchair users.
Traxel (centre) and her young daughter try navigating a wheelchair ramp to enter a shop.
Jessica Traxel faces similar difficulties on the same ramp. 'I didn't think it was bad,' she says afterwards '... but if no one had been behind me, I would have been scared'.
The project aims to highlighting the obstacles and limited access many people with limited mobility face daily.
A game changer
Thomas Klingenstein, a 50-year-old participant, confidently takes on the ramp in a wheelchair. 'Everything's fine,' he says after completing the climb. 'You have to accelerate to get up, but it works.'
The ramp, crafted from Lego bricks by Ebel and her team, has a notably steep incline.
'It's steep, but it's better than nothing,' remarks Bärbel Neuwirth, a wheelchair user also participating in the tour.
The challenge lies in regulations: commercial ramps are limited to a maximum incline of 6%, requiring significant length to reach even modest heights – often impractical in front of shops or houses.
Ebel's custom Lego ramps offer a practical alternative, as they can be built steeper to fit limited spaces.
Although no official standards exist for these Lego structures, Ebel and her team include a legal declaration of use with each ramp they deliver, ensuring transparency and safeguarding against liability.
Across Germany and in countries like France, Italy, Austria and Spain, Ebel's colourful Lego ramps have become a game-changer.
They have helped transform daunting high steps in front of shops, public buildings and homes into accessible pathways – not just for wheelchair users but also for those with rollators and pushchairs.
'Even if our ramps don't meet the strict legal requirements, I'd much rather be pushed up or down a steep ramp than have someone tip me backward to manage a high step,' says the 67-year-old Ebel.
While strangers often offer to assist wheelchair users with navigating steps, Ebel points out that few wheelchair users feel comfortable entrusting themselves to someone else's hands.
'It's rare to find someone willing to be tipped backward by a stranger,' she emphasises, highlighting the importance of solutions that empower independence.
Some challenges
The difficulties of navigating a wheelchair don't end once you've entered a shop or café.
High counters, for example, can be an obstacle and a deterrent for wheelchair users, as participants in the wheelchair tour discovered during a stop at a local shop.
This issue extends beyond retail spaces and into places like doctors' offices, Ebel notes.
'We want the businesses involved in our project to start asking people with disabilities: 'What can we do to make you feel more comfortable here?',' Schaar-von Romer says.
She adds that many shop owners are open to making necessary changes when approached about accessibility concerns.
The volunteer believes that addressing these issues benefits not only those with disabilities but also the broader community: 'How can you revitalise the city centre if you're excluding some people?' – dpa