10. August 2022 · Comments Off on European Vacation Day 10: The “Ampelmännchen” · Categories: Uncategorized

26 July 22: If you’re on the former East Berlin side of the city, such as where we are staying, you see pedestrian signals like this one. Aren’t they cute?

They are called Ampelmännchen and have quite a cult following. There are entire gift shops dedicated to them (but I didn’t get to stop in any, but there is an online store). There’s a whole story behind how these caricatures came about…apparently the green signal is based on a profile shot of former GDR Premier Erich Honecker. The individual who designed them recognized that pedestrians could be of all ages and abilities and the colors may not be able to be deciphered by color blind individuals.

We were briefly on the West Berlin side today and you see signals that look more like what you might see in the US or much of the rest of the world.

Read more about these signals here: https://www.thelocal.de/20111013/38197/