Photo Credit: Christopher Musci
Upon return from the design centric Berlin, my sister Debbi gave me my own Amplemann key fob! The creator, psychologist Karl Peglau, introduced the pedestrian signal 1961 in East Berlin based on the concept that the public reacts to appealing design. With widespread acceptance the ampel men became East German icongraphy. Following the reunification with the West, officials were critical of East German symbolism and the traffic lights were to be replaced with euro styles. Industrial designer, Markus Heckhausen adopted the ampel men in 1996 and produced lamps based on the traffic lights. Highlighting the icon’s controversy, the ‘committee for the preservation of ampel men’ was founded. In 1997 the East German ampel men were reintroduced to select sites and Heckhausen with Peglau collaborated to publish the The Ampel Man Book describing the stocky little man’s rescue! View the Flickr Amplemann group pics here.
