The design company specialises in emotional lifestyle products with high utility value. Behind every product lies a story that casts it in a new light. The foundation stone of the company philosophy was laid in 1996, when the first Ampelmann product was produced and reunified Germany: the ampel lamp designed by Markus Heckhausen and made from the original traffic light glass.
Thanks to creative product ideas and marketing activities the ampel man entered a new world, on the other side of the pedestrian crossing, as a commodity. This world, in which the ampel men lead their new lives, is created by product and graphic designers ­ working together with film-makers and musicians.

The success of the ampel man story led to the development of even more innovative products; such as James, the clothes stand, with his five helping hands.
In collaboration with the designer Reinhard Zetsche, The Black Forest cuckoo clock conveying the “Black Forest feeling” was created.
Also the Flower Power ventilators, wafting a natural fresh breeze as though across a field of flowers, were designed.

Heckhausen founded AMPELMANN GmbH in 1999. With the increasing success of Ampelmann products, a new sales structure and positioning of the brand was required, along with a new legal form. For the two figures from the East German traffic light to attain their final cult status, a lot of intensive PR work was required.
However, with the constantly growing range of products they also called in the collaboration with the father of the ampel men, Karl Peglau, who today still plays a large role in the company.
AMPELMANN backed this up with rigorous licensing to create an internationally known German brand. Thus, for example, the Federal Office for Political Education, supported by AMPELMANN GmbH, used the ampel man for the logo of the German Unity Prize.

In Berlin-Mitte, where trends are created, AMPELMANN GmbH has now expanded into a small medium-sized company. 60 employees and numerous temporary staff are mainly occupied with the ampel mans needs. Besides the design department, the sales department and the company?s own shops are growing in importance. Further concepts are in the pipeline, such as the Ampelmann fashion label, to ensure the company?s success for years to come.

The people behind AMPELMANN GmbH are its two managing directors, Markus Heckhausen and Barbara Ponn.
Heckhausen graduated in product design in Pforzheim in 1987. He was subsequently awarded a scholarship by Anna Castelli-Ferrieri (Kartell) in Milan. He has been a self-employed designer since that time.
Ponn attained her diploma as a product designer in Munich in 1992. Thereafter she completed half-year internships at BMW, Siemens and Escada. In 1998 and 1999 she was a lecturer in the Department of Design at the Berlin Institute of Art.