On May 18th Karl Peglau, the father of the “Ampelmännchen”, would have turned 90 years old. In regard to this special day, we have compiled nine interesting facts about Karl Peglau and his Ampelmännchen!
On October 13th, 1961, traffic psychologist Karl Peglau submitted his proposal for new traffic light symbols in Berlin, the capital of the GDR.
Ampelmännchen Fact 2:
In 1969 ideas turned into reality – the Ampelmännchen officially started to regulate the traffic! Until 1972, they were applied to all GDR traffic lights. Thus, it took eight years from submitting the designs to the first official use in the traffic light. Their first public appearance was in the traffic light at the intersection of Unter den Linden / Friedrichstraße – exactly where our flagship store is today.
Ampelmännchen Fact 3:
At the Jacobs University in Bremen a team examined whether the West or the East German Ampelmännchen provides better traffic safety. Dr. Claudia Peschke, Jacobs University of Bremen, says: “Our findings show that the East German Ampelmännchen are not just iconic of the East German nostalgia, but actually have an advantage over the West German Ampelmännchen in terms of the signal being perceived.”
Ampelmännchen Fact 4:
At the beginning Karl Peglau was not sure whether his Ampelmännchen should wear a hat as it was considered a capitalist symbol in the GDR. One evening, watching television, he saw Erich Honecker wearing a straw hat, he declared that his Ampelmännchen would do so as well.
Ampelmännchen Fact 5:
Karl Peglau’s Ampelmännchen originally walked to the right. Due to a GDR survey, a change of direction was recommended and according to the political ideology, they walked to the left from that time on. Nevertheless, on the AMPELMANN products, they are running to the right again, as it is graphically more elegant and dynamic.
Ampelmännchen Fact 6:
In Karl Peglau´s first sketches we can see that his Ampelmännchen had fingers. These had to give way because they were too detailed for the production of the traffic light glasses. This way the Ampelmännchen got their round hands.
Ampelmännchen Fact 7:
The father of the Ampelmännchen, Karl Peglau, and the founder and CEO of AMPELMANN GmbH, Markus Heckhausen, were good friends and have worked together for years. Their friendship began over self-baked cake by Mrs. Peglau. They have inspired each other and exchanged new ideas.
Ampelmännchen Fact 8:
What was Karl Peglaus’ favourite hobby? Tennis was his passion. He was a trainer, a top-notch tennis player in East Berlin, won numerous titles, was GDR senior champion and in 1949 founded the tennis department at Berlin’s Humboldt University. To this day, there is a Karl Peglau Centre Court.
Ampelmännchen Fact 9:
Until his death in 2009, Karl Peglau supported the AMPELMANN GmbH. In the quickly growing company, Karl Peglau came to the office every week, shook hands with co-workers, brought cake, fruit, good humor and often his wife Hildegard.
