Karl Peglau
Encyclopedia
Karl Peglau was a German
traffic psychologist
who invented the iconic Ampelmännchen
traffic symbols used in the former East Germany in 1961. The Ampelmännchen depicts a symbolic person on the red and green traffic lights.
Peglau wanted to create a traffic light that would be both appealing to children, yet easily accessible and understandable for elderly Germans
. He deliberately designed the human figures, known as the Ampelmännchen, to be both creative and "cute".
The Ampelmännchen
, which is widely beloved in the former German Democratic Republic
, is one of the symbols which still "enjoy the privileged status
of being one of the few features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain
with his popularity unscathed." Fans of Peglau's have used it to symbolize the so-called Ostalgie
, or revival
of East German aesthetic as trendy and chic
.
In 1997, the German government attempted to replace the Ampelmännchen used in the former East Germany with the slighter, more generic version used in the former West Germany
. A campaign, called Save the Amplemännchen, was launched by supporters, which successfully preserved Peglau's Ampelmännchen in the East.
, Upper Lusatia
, Saxony
in 1927. He studied and trained in both psychology
and engineering
at Humboldt University of Berlin
.
By the early 1960s, traffic lights in the former German Democratic Republic
had remained largely unchanged since the 1930s. An increase in cars and traffic volume
in the communist-ruled East Germany had made the streets more dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians. The 1930s-era traffic lights could not cope with the increased traffic, leading to a sharp rise in accidents and fatalities.
In the early 1960s, an East Berlin
traffic commission
asked Peglau to create a new traffic light design in order to decrease the number of traffic accidents in the city. Peglau deduced that both vehicle and pedestrian traffic could be better managed if he created a completely different traffic signal.
Peglau designed the glass human figures for the stop (red) and go (green) lights on the traffic signal in 1961, which became known as the Ampelmännchen
. Peglau deliberately designed the Ampelmännchen to be both friendly and approachable, which increased their popularity with East Germans. The figures were created with easy-going stances, hats, "button noses" and "stocky builds." Peglau described the Ampelmännchen's features as having the ability to project "an aura
of coziness and human warmth."
Peglau also designed the Ampelmännchen to be more effective and practical than the previous 1930s-era signals. The green Ampelmännchen's stance resembled an arrow, while the red Ampelmännchen, with his outstretched arms, looks similar to a barricade
. The large Ampelmännchen symbols made them easier to see in inclement weather
conditions, such as fog
, rain
or snow
.
Peglau's Ampelmännchen spread beyond East Berlin, and become common throughout all of East Germany by the 1980s. His Ampelmännchen grew to become an important part of East German popular culture
. In a series of over 80 episodes broadcast
over nightly East German childrens television, both the green and red Ampelmännchen were used to teach children on the importance of traffic rules and safety.
In 1996, Heckhausen won the copyright
to sell and market Peglau's Ampelmännchen design and started a firm called Ampelmann Ltd. Heckhausen quickly hired Peglau to design new Ampelmännchen products for the company, which have since become some of the most popular souvenirs in Berlin
. In an interview
with the Berliner Zeitung
, Heckhausen recalled that Peglau would come to the Ampelmann Ltd. design studio
once a week to brainstorm on new products and work with other staff. Heckhausen stated that Peglau found it unusual that the company was able to create consumer products, such as T-shirts and bags, out of his traffic safety ideas.
Peglau spent nearly 20 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany working on his iconic Ampelmännchen designs. However, as a traffic psychologist and engineer, Peglau designed numerous other traffic safety plans throughout his career. For example, Peglau proposed that the red, yellow and green lights be each be assigned a different shape.
As of late 2009, Peglau's Ampelmännchen can still be found throughout secondary road and intersections within the former East Germany. His symbols have also been adopted by some former West German cities as well.
Karl Peglau died in Berlin, Germany, on November 29, 2009, at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife, Hildegard, and their two children.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
traffic psychologist
Traffic psychology
Traffic psychology is a young, expanding and wide field in psychology. Whereas traffic psychology is primarily related to the study of the behavior of road users and the psychological processes underlying that behavior as well as to the relationship between behavior and accidents, transportation...
who invented the iconic Ampelmännchen
Ampelmännchen
is the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic . Prior to the German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally male figure...
traffic symbols used in the former East Germany in 1961. The Ampelmännchen depicts a symbolic person on the red and green traffic lights.
Peglau wanted to create a traffic light that would be both appealing to children, yet easily accessible and understandable for elderly Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He deliberately designed the human figures, known as the Ampelmännchen, to be both creative and "cute".
The Ampelmännchen
Ampelmännchen
is the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic . Prior to the German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally male figure...
, which is widely beloved in the former German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
, is one of the symbols which still "enjoy the privileged status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
of being one of the few features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
with his popularity unscathed." Fans of Peglau's have used it to symbolize the so-called Ostalgie
Ostalgie
Ostalgie is a German term referring to nostalgia for aspects of life in East Germany. It is derived from the German words Ost and Nostalgie ....
, or revival
Revival
Revival may refer to:*Resuscitation of a person*Language revival of an extinct language*Revival of a defunct team*Revival of a former television series*Revival of a former hit play in a new production...
of East German aesthetic as trendy and chic
Chic (style)
Chic , meaning 'stylish' or 'smart', is an element of fashion.-Etymology:Chic is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s...
.
In 1997, the German government attempted to replace the Ampelmännchen used in the former East Germany with the slighter, more generic version used in the former West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. A campaign, called Save the Amplemännchen, was launched by supporters, which successfully preserved Peglau's Ampelmännchen in the East.
Early life
Karl Peglau was born in the town of Bad MuskauBad Muskau
Bad Muskau is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony....
, Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
in 1927. He studied and trained in both psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
at Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
.
Ampelmännchen in East Germany
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
had remained largely unchanged since the 1930s. An increase in cars and traffic volume
Traffic volume
In telecommunication networks, traffic volume is a measure of the total work done by a resource or facility, normally over 24 hours, and is measured in units of erlang-hours...
in the communist-ruled East Germany had made the streets more dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians. The 1930s-era traffic lights could not cope with the increased traffic, leading to a sharp rise in accidents and fatalities.
In the early 1960s, an East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
traffic commission
Statutory authority
A statutory authority is a body set up by law which is authorised to enforce legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy. They are common in the UK, Australia, New Zealand etc but...
asked Peglau to create a new traffic light design in order to decrease the number of traffic accidents in the city. Peglau deduced that both vehicle and pedestrian traffic could be better managed if he created a completely different traffic signal.
Peglau designed the glass human figures for the stop (red) and go (green) lights on the traffic signal in 1961, which became known as the Ampelmännchen
Ampelmännchen
is the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic . Prior to the German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally male figure...
. Peglau deliberately designed the Ampelmännchen to be both friendly and approachable, which increased their popularity with East Germans. The figures were created with easy-going stances, hats, "button noses" and "stocky builds." Peglau described the Ampelmännchen's features as having the ability to project "an aura
Aura (paranormal)
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object . The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things and all objects...
of coziness and human warmth."
Peglau also designed the Ampelmännchen to be more effective and practical than the previous 1930s-era signals. The green Ampelmännchen's stance resembled an arrow, while the red Ampelmännchen, with his outstretched arms, looks similar to a barricade
Barricade
Barricade, from the French barrique , is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction...
. The large Ampelmännchen symbols made them easier to see in inclement weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
conditions, such as fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
, rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
or snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
.
Peglau's Ampelmännchen spread beyond East Berlin, and become common throughout all of East Germany by the 1980s. His Ampelmännchen grew to become an important part of East German popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. In a series of over 80 episodes broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
over nightly East German childrens television, both the green and red Ampelmännchen were used to teach children on the importance of traffic rules and safety.
Reunification and later years
After German reunification in 1990, the German government sought to standardize all traffic signals in the former East and West. Authorities began to gradually phase out Paglau's iconic Ampelmännchen in favor of a slimmer signal used in the former West Germany. A German designer, Markus Heckhausen, began to collect the old Ampelmännchen, which had been replaced by the government. Heckhausen turned the old Ampelmännchen figures into lamps and fashion accessories. A campaign, called Save the Amplemännchen, was launched by the public and Ampelmännchen enthusiasts, resulting in the preservation of Peglau's Amplemännchen in 1997.In 1996, Heckhausen won the copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
to sell and market Peglau's Ampelmännchen design and started a firm called Ampelmann Ltd. Heckhausen quickly hired Peglau to design new Ampelmännchen products for the company, which have since become some of the most popular souvenirs in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In an interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
with the Berliner Zeitung
Berliner Zeitung
The Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
, Heckhausen recalled that Peglau would come to the Ampelmann Ltd. design studio
Design studio
A Design Studio or Drawing Office is a workplace for Designers and Artisans engaged in conceiving, designing and developing new products or objects...
once a week to brainstorm on new products and work with other staff. Heckhausen stated that Peglau found it unusual that the company was able to create consumer products, such as T-shirts and bags, out of his traffic safety ideas.
Peglau spent nearly 20 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany working on his iconic Ampelmännchen designs. However, as a traffic psychologist and engineer, Peglau designed numerous other traffic safety plans throughout his career. For example, Peglau proposed that the red, yellow and green lights be each be assigned a different shape.
As of late 2009, Peglau's Ampelmännchen can still be found throughout secondary road and intersections within the former East Germany. His symbols have also been adopted by some former West German cities as well.
Karl Peglau died in Berlin, Germany, on November 29, 2009, at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife, Hildegard, and their two children.