Traffic signals are designed to be intuitively understood. Maybe that’s why I never paid much attention to what traffic light signals for pedestrian cross walks really looked like – until I visited Berlin, Germany. There, the traffic light guys signaling “walk” and “stop” have a lot of personality and really popped out. The almost forgotten East German Pedestrian crossing lights got new life and are today Berlin icons. I tried to remember what the American guys look like until I realized there aren’t any, at least not where I live. Instead, white letters spell “WALK” and red letters “DONT WALK”.
It turned out to be quite a story behind the Berlin “Ampelmännchen” (means “small traffic light men”).
After the reunification in 1990, the western standard was rolled out for most everything, including traffic signs and signals. However, after some time, the charming eastern Berlin traffic light men were reinstalled and became standard for all of the city. Today, the “Ampelmännchen” are icons of Berlin and printed on merchandize that is sold along those with images of the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin TV tower.
Elisabeth