Happy birthday, Ampelmann: Germany's cult traffic light man turns 50

By Juliane Wienss Oct 27, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Berlin - Karl Peglau was not aiming to create a cult symbol when he designed the Ampelmaennchen, the sign used on pedestrian lights in East Germany.

Peglau worked as a psychologist in East Germany's transport authority. Fast growth in traffic at the end of the 1950s led to concerns about pedestrian safety.

'We had one idea guiding us: only when pedestrians understand and like a traffic symbol will they follow it,' recalls Hildegard Peglau, widow of the inventor.

Karl Peglau designed the Ampelmaennchen in his spare time. It was meant to be more than just an illuminated line on a post as was used in West Berlin in 1957.

It did not take Peglau long to create the rotund, little man but the design of the figure's head was a cause for concern, according to Hildegard Peglau. A side parting in his hair sparked memories of Adolf Hitler while curly hair was considered too south European. In the end Peglau settled on a hat.

The Ampelmaennchen was presented to the East German public on television in October, 1961. However, it took another eight years of bureaucracy until the first Ampelmaennchen traffic light was installed in central East Berlin.

After 1990 and German reunification the Ampelmaennchen began to disappear from eastern Germany's streetscape as old traffic lights were replaced with new West German lights. But before the last Ampelmaennchen was turned off a man from western Germany rescued it.

Markus Heckhausen is a designer who has managed to give the symbol a cult following. 'I thought it was awful that such a charming figure was simply being replaced,' says Heckhausen.

The 50-year-old came at the beginning of the 1990s to Berlin after completing his studies. He started collecting dismantled Ampelmaennchen, reconditioned them and sold them to the public. That was in 1996.

Today, Heckhausen is still selling Ampelmaennchen lights for about 110 dollars a piece. Last year Heckhausen's firm generated 9.5- million-dollars worth of business with Ampelmaennchen lights and other merchandise based on the character.

Tourists can buy Ampelmaennchen vases, swimwear and even pasta in Heckhausen's four stores in Berlin. For people born in East Germany the Ampelmaennchen is a part of their identity, believes Heckhausen. For tourists it's a simply an amusing souvenir from the German capital.

'Without Heckhausen and his company the Ampelmaennchen would not have survived,' says 86-year-old Hildegard Peglau. Initially her husband was sceptical when in 1996 he first met Heckhausen who suggested putting the symbol on mugs and t-shirts.

But Peglau was convinced and Heckhausen brought him into his firm where he received a cut of the profits.

Heckhausen says Karl Peglau acted as a father figure for the business until his death in 2009. The two men even remained united through a court case that saw Heckhausen successfully protect his rights to the Ampelmaennchen against the traffic lights' manufacturer.

The many products that are today adorned with Ampelmaennchen have helped boost its popularity and prevented its disappearance from Germany's roads.

Since 1997 Ampelmaennchen are being reinstalled on street corners, even muscling out their West German counterparts. In cities such as Cologne and Dresden there's even an Ampel-woman with a skirt and pigtails.

The Ampelmaennchen's popularity has spread far beyond Germany's borders and it can be found as far afield as Asia. Heckhausen says the Japanese are some of his biggest customers. They love the symbol 'because it's so cute'.

Heckhausen is planning an Ampelmaennchen song and an app for mobile phones. Hollywood has also taken an interest.