Ampelmännchen
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(; literally ''little traffic light man'',
diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
of ''Ampelmann'' ) is the symbol shown on
pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...
signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
s in Germany. Prior to
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, the two Germanies had different forms for the , with a generic human figure in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and a generally "male" figure wearing a hat in the East. The is a beloved symbol in former East Germany, "enjoy ngthe privileged status of being one of the few features of East Germany to have survived the end of the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
with his popularity unscathed." After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the acquired cult status and became a popular souvenir item in the tourism business.


Concept and design

The first traffic lights at pedestrian crossings were erected in the 1950s, and many countries developed different designs (which were eventually standardised). At that time, traffic lights were the same for cars, bicycles and pedestrians. The
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
was created in 1961 by traffic psychologist
Karl Peglau Karl Peglau (18 May 1927 – 29 November 2009) was a German traffic psychologist who invented the iconic Ampelmännchen traffic symbols used in the former East Germany in 1961. The Ampelmännchen depicts a symbolic person on the red and g ...
(1927–2009) as part of a proposal for a new traffic lights layout. Peglau criticised the fact that the standard colours of the traffic lights (red, yellow, green) did not provide for road users who were unable to differentiate between colours (10 percent of the total population); and that the lights themselves were too small and too weak when competing against luminous advertising and sunlight. Peglau proposed retaining the three colours while introducing intuitive shapes for each coloured light. This idea received strong support from many sides, but Peglau's plans were doomed by the high costs involved in replacing existing traffic light infrastructure. Unlike motor traffic, pedestrian traffic has no constraints for age or health (physical or mental), and therefore must allow for children, elderly people and the handicapped. Peglau therefore resorted to the realistic-concrete scheme of a little man that is comprehensible for everyone and appeals to archetypical shapes. The thick outstretched arms of the frontal-standing red man is associated with the function of a blocking barricade to signal "stop", while the side-facing green man with his wide-paced legs is associated with a dynamic arrow, signalling the permission to "go ahead". The yellow light was abandoned because of generally unhurried pedestrian traffic. Peglau's secretary Anneliese Wegner drew the per his suggestions. The initial concept envisioned the to have fingers, but this idea was dropped for technical reasons of illumination. However, the man's "perky", "cheerful" and potentially "
petit bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological ...
" hat – inspired by a summer photo of
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...
in a straw hat – was retained, to Peglau's surprise. The prototypes of the traffic lights were built at the VEB-Leuchtenbau Berlin. The was officially introduced on 13 October 1961 in Berlin, at which time the media attention and public interest focused on the new traffic lights, not the symbols. The first were produced as cheap decal pictures. Beginning in 1973, the traffic lights were produced at and privately owned artisan shops. Decades later, Daniel Meuren of the weekly German newsmagazine described the as uniting "beauty with efficiency, charm with utility, ndsociability with fulfilment of duties". The reminded others of a childlike figure with big head and short legs, or a religious leader. The proved so popular that parents and teachers initiated the symbol to become part of road safety education for children in the early 1980s. The East German Ministry of the Interior had the idea to bring the two traffic light figures to life and turn them into advisors. The were introduced with much media publicity. They appeared in strip cartoons, also in situations without traffic lights. The red appeared in potentially dangerous environments, and the green was an advisor. Together with the publishing company, games with the were developed. stories were developed for radio broadcasts. Partly animated Ampelmännchen stories with the name were broadcast once a month as part of the East German children's bedtime television programme ''
Sandmännchen ''Unser Sandmännchen'' ("Our Little Sandman"), ''Das Sandmännchen'' ("The Little Sandman"), ''Der Abendgruß'' ("The Evening-Greeting"), ''Abendgruß'' ("Evening-Greeting"), ''Der Sandmann'' ("The Sandman"), ''Sandmann'' ("Sandman"), ''Sandm ...
'', which had one of the largest viewing audiences in East Germany. The animated stories raised international interest, and the Czech festival for road safety education films awarded the ''Special Award by the Jury'' and the ''Main Prize for Overall Accomplishments'' in 1984.


History after reunification

Following the German reunification in 1990, there were attempts to standardise all traffic signs to the West German forms. East German street signs and traffic signs were dismantled and replaced because of differing fonts in the former two German countries. The East German education programmes featuring the vanished. This led to calls to save the East German as a part of the East German culture. The first solidarity campaigns for the took place in Berlin in early 1995. Markus Heckhausen, a graphic designer from the West German city of
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
and founder of in Berlin, had first noticed the during his visits to East Berlin in the 1980s. When he was looking for new design possibilities in 1995, he had the idea to collect dismantled and build lamps. But he had difficulty finding old and eventually contacted the former (now ) regarding their excess stock. The company was still producing , and liked Heckhausen's marketing ideas. The public embraced Heckhausen's first six lamp models. Local newspapers published full-page articles, followed by articles in national newspapers and designer magazines. The successful German daily
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
used the lamp in their coffeehouse set. Designer Karl Peglau explained the public reaction in 1997:
It is presumably their special, almost indescribable aura of human snugness and warmth, when humans are comfortably touched by this traffic symbol figure and find a piece of honest historical identification, giving the the right to represent a positive aspect of a failed social order.
The became a virtual
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
for the East German nostalgia movement, known as . The protests were successful, and the returned to pedestrian crossings. They can now also be seen in some western districts of Berlin. Some western German cities such as
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
and
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
have since adopted the design for some intersections. Peter Becker, marshal of Saarbrücken, explained that lights of the East German have greater signal strength than West German traffic lights, and "in our experience people react better to the East German than the West German ones." In Heidelberg, however, a government department asked the city to stop the installation of more East German , citing standards in road traffic regulations. Heckhausen continued to incorporate the design into products and had an assortment of over forty Ampelmännchen souvenir products in 2004, reportedly earning €2 million yearly. In the meantime, east German businessman Joachim Rossberg had also used the distinctive traffic symbol as a logo, and claimed to make €50,000 per year from merchandise. Heckhausen appealed to a
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
court in 2005 over the marketing rights, suing Rossberg for failing at making full use of his marketing rights; German legislature rules state that if no use of marketing rights is made for five years, the rights can be cancelled. The court ruled in 2006 that Rossberg's right to use the as a marketing brand had largely lapsed and had passed back into the public domain. Rossberg only retained the right to use the symbol to market liqueur, and may no longer use the logo on beer and T-shirts. The court case was later seen by some as part of the cultural and political struggle between residents of the two parts of the reunified country, in which the underdog East generally lost. Berlin started to modernize its traffic lights from using regular light bulbs to LED technology in early 2006, which promised better visibility and lower maintenance costs.


Variations

There are three variations in modern-day Germany – the old East German version, the old West German version, and the pan-German introduced in 1992. Each German state holds the right to determine the version used. East Germans have changed the look of Ampelmännchen traffic lights as a joke since the early 1980s; this turned into media-effective efforts to call attention to the vanishing East German in the 1990s. The on several traffic lights in
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
were changed through manipulation of the template, showing carrying backpacks or cameras. In 2004, Joachim Rossberg invented the female counterpart to the , the , which was installed on some traffic lights in
Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
,
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and
Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the R ...
.


Art collective Ztohoven

Roman Tic (a pseudonym playing with "romantic") of the art collective Ztohoven ("(The way) Out of shit") changed some pedestrian traffic lights in the daylight hours of 8 April 2007 in five hours work, with a ladder and wearing red
overalls Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
. He used different motifs, including men and women (e.g. drinking, urinating).


Inclusive traffic lights

On 11 May 2015, before the
Life Ball The Life Ball in Vienna is the biggest Charitable organization, charity event in Europe supporting people with HIV or AIDS. The event is organized by the nonprofit organization AIDS LIFE, which was founded in 1992 by Gery Keszler and Torgom Petros ...
and the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, the city changed some traffic lights to ""; these are designs with homo- and heterosexual couples, hugging or holding hands. In June 2015, Salzburg (at Staatsbrücke) and Linz (at Mozartkreuzung) followed suit with the same designs. However, in December 2015, a city traffic minister of the party
FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
dismounted the privately sponsored faceplates, deeming them unnecessary. File:Ampelmädchen - Dresden.jpg, The Ampelfrau File:Ampelmännchen mit Regenschirm.JPG, Ampelmännchen with
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
File:Ampelmaennchen Ost Fahrrad.jpg, Ampelmännchen with bicycle File:Ampelmaennchen Ost Warnlicht.jpg, Ampelmännchen as warning light


Tribute

On 13 October 2017,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
celebrated the 56th anniversary of the Traffic Light Man with a
Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
.


See also

*
Ostalgie In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and ''Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia" ...
*
Road traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
* Xiaolüren, an animated traffic light system in Taiwan


References


Further reading

*


External links


''Original Ampelmann''
Company which manufactured them originally
''Ampelmann''
at ampelmann.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Ampelmannchen 1961 introductions East German culture Ostalgie Pedestrian crossing components Road transport in Germany Transport in East Germany