How the Ampelmännchen Were Saved
These little guys were supposed to disappear after German reunification.
Today, the red and green Ampelmännchen are among Berlin’s most iconic symbols—but at one point, they were slated to be erased forever.
The Ampelmännchen, literally, “little traffic-light men,” were created in East Germany: the red man tells you to stop, while his green counterpart strides across the street.
After reunification, though, East German traffic lights began being replaced with western ones, and the Ampelmännchen started disappearing too.
A lot of East Germans weren’t happy about that.
And then, somewhat ironically, a West German designer helped save them.
Markus Heckhausen moved to Berlin in the 1990s and began collecting discarded East German traffic-light lenses and turning them into lamps and other products.
That helped generate publicity for the campaign to preserve the Ampelmännchen, and eventually the removals were stopped.
In 2001, Heckhausen opened the first Ampelmann shop right here in the Hackeschen Höfe.
Today there are Ampelmann shops across Berlin and at the airport selling more than 600 different products—everything from mugs and T-shirts to bags, toys, and baby clothes.
And you could use my free Berlin travel app to guide you here.
The Hackeschen Höfe is a stop on my Spandauer Vorstadt audio tour.
