East traffic light man

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
East traffic light man

The east traffic light man or the east traffic light woman (also known as the girl or woman) is a variant of the little traffic light man , whose origins go back to the GDR era.

In Germany, in addition to this variant, the Euro male and the West German Ampelmännchen are common.

History in the GDR

Image 11: for pedestrians: traffic direction released. Traffic signs of the German Democratic Republic according to the road traffic regulations (StVO) from 1977, which came into force in 1978.

In 1961, the traffic psychologist Karl Peglau suggested to the GDR Ministry of Transport that each group of road users should have their own set of traffic lights. He developed special signs for pedestrian traffic lights that show the symbol of a standing or walking pedestrian. Children and the elderly in particular let the vivid symbols influence their behavior. These figures were originally called Stoppi (red) and Galoppo (green) by their creator .

After the design by Karl Peglau in 1961, the East-Ampelmännchen were introduced in 1969 in East Berlin at the intersection of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstraße after years of various technical, scientific and state tests . In 1970 they were included as official pedestrian signals in the light signal standard of the GDR. To improve acceptance among children, the series Verkehrskompass was broadcast on GDR television. Gradually, they were used across the whole of the GDR. The traffic lights were initially manufactured in Berlin by VEB  Leuchtenbau, then by a Dresden PGH and by Bergner & Weiser in Pößneck . In 1974, Schmidt KG in Wildenfels, Saxony (later VEB Signaltechnik) received the order for production and equipped the pedestrian traffic lights with these traffic light figures until the turn of the century .

History in the reunified Germany

After reunification in 1990, the East German Ampelmännchen in the area of ​​the former GDR were gradually exchanged for the West German Ampelmännchen. This resulted in protests among the population. At the time, traffic lights that product designer Markus Heckhausen produced from discarded traffic light glasses aroused particular interest. Together with Karl Peglau, the inventor of the Ampelmännchen, he published the Ampelmännchen book in 1997 for Eulenspiegelverlag. The publication of the book and the actions of the committee to save the Ampelmännchen aroused so much interest that politicians were also interested in the rescue of the East Ampelmännchen. The little east traffic light man was included a little later in the guidelines for traffic lights as a permissible symbol.

Since January 2005, East-Ampelmännchen have also been used on traffic lights in the western districts of Berlin. Various other West German cities followed suit; In the town of Hückeswagen near Wuppertal, they have completely taken over the pedestrian signaling.

In Bavaria, with the introductory decree "Enforcement of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO);" Guidelines for traffic light systems "(RiLSA, 2015 edition") of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, Building and Transport, it was stipulated on December 2, 2015: "The pedestrian signaling devices to be used are listed under Section 6.2.7 of the guidelines. In Bavaria, the pedestrian signal images ("Ampelmännchen") permitted in the Unification Treaty may not be used. " However, as of October 2013, several traffic lights in the city of Neu-Ulm were converted to the East-Ampelmännchen.

Researchers found that the Peglau traffic light man is better recognized than the “western” traffic light man.

The East Ampelmännchen has a special quality, as it has become a symbol of Ostalgie after German reunification . In addition, the Ampelmännchen has developed into a symbol for the German capital Berlin over the years and is particularly popular with tourists. This development began in 1997. Since that year the Ampelmännchen have been a registered trademark of AMPELMANN GmbH. Ampelmännchen inventor Karl Peglau worked in the company until his death in 2009.

Ampelmann shop in Berlin

Traffic light woman

Traffic light women in Zwickau

The graphic artist Hans-Jürgen Ellenberger designed a traffic light woman (east traffic light girl, east traffic light woman) from the shape of the east traffic light man in 1996. It was first published in 1997 in the book vom Ampelmännchen . In 2000, the publisher Markus Heckhausen registered the Ost-Trafficelfrau as a design patent and secured exclusive use of Ellenberger's copyrights. The figure light area was given braids and a skirt. The advantage of this symbol is - in addition to equality - the enlarged illuminated area and thus a better conspicuousness of the signal color. The design of the traffic light woman is based on similar considerations that preceded the introduction of the East German traffic light man. The commandments of the traffic light should not only be indicated by the color, but also by an informative graphic representation. The design should be both friendly and create a strong signal effect through a large symbol area.

The east traffic light woman has since been established in several East German and West German cities.

At the end of November 2004, the east traffic light from Ellenberger in Zwickau was put into operation on a trial basis. According to Zwickau city spokeswoman Angelika Michaelis, the road traffic regulations only require the symbol of a pedestrian, there is no such thing as a "gender determination". For three months it should be tested how the traffic light woman arrives at the Zwickauers. Then possibly more traffic lights should be converted.

On January 24, 2005, a traffic light with east traffic light woman was also set up in Dresden . This initiative came from the Dresden equal opportunities officer, Kristina Winkler. Together with Lord Mayor Ingolf Roßberg and the manufacturer of the traffic light, Joachim Roßberg, the first traffic light system in Dresden city center, right at the entrance to Prager Strasse, was converted. Meanwhile 10 traffic lights in Dresden have been equipped with the traffic light woman.

In the summer of 2010 the first east traffic light women appeared in Bremen . When choosing a name for the new light signal, Bremen's women's representative came out in favor of the name “traffic light woman ”. So far, four traffic lights have been equipped with the new symbols.

Further east traffic light women are in Leipzig , Werdau , Cologne-Ehrenfeld , Erfurt , Fulda , Offenbach , Magdeburg , Fürstenwalde and, since October 2013, in Kassel .

In 2012, the accusation of the parliamentary group leader of the SPD in Teltow , Brandenburg , Christine Hochmuth, "a woman with long pigtails and a swinging skirt does not convey a contemporary image of women" caused a stir . With this view she rejected the proposal of a city councilor to introduce the traffic light woman in Teltow.

Alternative traffic light men in Erfurt

Traffic light woman in Erfurt

As early as the 1980s in Erfurt , municipal employees in the maintenance and repair of traffic lights came up with the idea of ​​changing the uniform appearance of individual green traffic light men, so that to this day 14 of the total of 1400 Erfurt pedestrian traffic lights show a modified green east traffic light man (Wandersmann with rucksack and walking stick, traffic light man with umbrella, traffic light man as a school starter with a sugar bag, etc.). These survived both the introduction of the German Ampelmännchen after reunification and the efforts to establish an EU-wide uniform Ampelmännchen. The municipal tourist information office in Erfurt offers thematic city tours (Erfurt Ampelmann Tour) on the subject.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ With skirt and pigtails: First Brandenburg traffic light woman on duty . In: Berliner-Kurier.de . ( berliner-kurier.de [accessed on October 13, 2017]).
  2. ^ History of the Ampelmännchen ( Memento from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Anniversary: ​​From the traffic light into the world - The East Ampelmännchen turns 50 ( Memento from February 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Online on fr.de from October 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ Christoph Dieckmann: Thank you, Herr Ampelmann In: Die Zeit Online, 23 August 1996, accessed on 6 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Markus Heckhausen: The book of the Ampelmännchen . Eulenspiegel-Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-359-00910-X .
  6. ↑ Man (n) is now wearing a hat , Augsburger Allgemeine, January 15, 2014
  7. ↑ East traffic light man conquers Neu-Ulm , Südwest-Presse, February 24, 2014
  8. ↑ Claudia Peschke, Bettina Olk, Claus C. Hilgetag: Should I Stay or Should I Go - Cognitive Conflict in Multi-Attribute Signals Probed with East and West German 'Ampelmännchen' Traffic Signs. In: PLOS ONE . Volume 8, No. 5, e64712, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0064712
    Victory for the Ossi-Ampelmännchen. On: Wissenschaft.de from June 21, 2013, accessed on September 9, 2019.
  9. ↑ German Patent and Trademark Office: Register information for figurative marks of Ampelmann GmbH
  10. ↑ Christine Cornelius, dpa: Road traffic inventor of the east traffic light man is dead. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, December 1, 2009, accessed on April 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Berlin's Ampelmännchen conquered the world. In: BerlinOnline , February 13, 2012, accessed April 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ First traffic light women: Four first light signals became female . ( Memento of July 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on: radiobremen.de , July 19, 2010; Retrieved December 26, 2010
  13. ↑ Cologne's first traffic light women shine ( Memento from May 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, accessed on March 14, 2009.
  14. ↑ Erfurt Ampelmännchen , accessed on November 7, 2012
  15. ↑ The first traffic light woman in Fulda regulates the traffic , accessed on June 4, 2017
  16. ^ Op-online.de: Berliner / at the corner of Herrnstrasse. First traffic light in Offenbach lights up , accessed on April 23, 2019
  17. ↑ tagesspiegel.de: Ampelmännchen gets female reinforcement , accessed on March 6, 2014
  18. ↑ hna.de: The first Hessian traffic light woman lights up in Kassel , accessed on March 6, 2014
  19. ↑ MPs find traffic light woman sexist . Der Tagesspiegel : March 9, 2012, accessed March 9, 2012.
  20. ↑ Gallery of the various males
  21. ↑ Erfurt is the nucleus of the extravagant Ampelmännchen . In: Thüringer Allgemeine , October 13, 2011.
  22. ↑ Erfurt Ampelmann Tour (Ampelmännchen in Erfurt) - Erfurt Tourism . In: EVE Tourist Information in Erfurt . Erfurt 2012 ( erfurt-touristinformation.de ).