The university – ‘Alma Mater’ – is always depicted as female and, in a metaphorical sense, provides its students with education and science. However, in the 661-year history of the University of Vienna, women were not allowed to study at their ‘Alma Mater’ until the end of the 19th century.

This tour takes a look at the historical development of women's access to education – from antiquity to the present day – and provides information about the most important reforms for girls in the Austrian school system. Biographies of the ‘pioneers’ of women's studies at the University of Vienna highlight the difficult study and career paths of women, mostly caused by a lack of male and social acceptance, supplemented by the monuments to female scientists and the installation ‘Der Muse reicht's’ (The Muse has had enough) in the Arcade Court.

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