The Ampelmännchen (The Ampelmann)
March 11th, 2008 by Erin
The first thing I noticed (and fell in love with) when I arrived in Berlin were the traffic lights. A day later I learned that the Ampelmännchen is Berlin’s mascot.
There’s a whole history behind the traffic lights, which I learned on a walking tour of the city. The lights were created in 1961 and designed by a traffic psychologist named Karl Peglau. (Yes, a traffic psychologist). He thought people would respond better to traffic signals if they looked friendly.
Before reunification West and East Germany had different sets of traffic lights. The Ampelmann belonging to East Germany. After unification the west tried to standardize all the traffic lights, which meant the elimination of the Ampelmann.
East Germans, outraged by the notion, protested against its elimination and won. This little man with his bourgeois hat became the mascot for the East German nostalgia movement known as Ostalgie.
When I first got here I thought, ‘I wish I could get that on a t-shirt’ now I know that I can get a t-shirt and can cook little Ampelmännchen for dinner!
Here’s a link to the Ampelmann shop.
Posted in Berlin |