Call me, maybe
14 July 2025
In a world of smartphones and 5G, phone booths feel like relics from another era; more nostalgic postcards than practical infrastructure. While most European countries have quietly phased them out, Austria is holding on.
More than 6,500 public phone booths remain, with 1,600 in Vienna alone. Unsurprisingly for a country still clinging to Bargeld (cash), handwritten notes, and analogue rituals, Austria is giving these boxes a quirky second life: transformed into book libraries, EV charging stations, or even emergency defibrillator hubs. Many booths, saved by local initiatives, still work, some only for emergency calls.
Several other EU countries have reimagined public phone booths as creative micro-spaces: From confession booths in France, to mini espresso bars in Milan and even tiny nightclubs in Berlin.
 | Claudia Tschabuschnig When I see those scratched-up, half-graffiti-covered boxes, I remember school friends without mobile phones, often due to strict parents, waiting in the cold, counting coins to call for the school pickup. They're not exactly polished but they might still save lives, especially when your phone dies at midnight and you really feel like calling someone. |
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