Wißt Ihr, wer Euch helfen kann?
Ich, der grüne Ampelmann!
Original DDR-Spruch, 1962
The popular uproar about the little walk lights in the former GDR is for
us a sophisticated sociological study. Shortly after the Wende, the various
(newly federalized, i.e., West German) traffic safety offices began upgrading
roads and signs, including stoplights and walk lights. The old DDR walk
light is different from the new federal, Bundesdeutscher Ampelmann.
The Ossies were offended. Rettet die Ampelmännchen!
--Save the little-walk-light-man!-- was the battle cry.
My original Ampelmännchen photo from Berlin
Mitte,
corner Torstraße (former Wilhelm-Pieck-Straße)
and Rosenthaler Straße.
Info and grafix:
Working hard at the Burger King
Stop!
The ampelmann page
A delightful page devoted to saving the Ampelmaennchen (in German).
Here folks can also buy cool Ampelmännchen stuff--all
profits for the cause. If y'all are interested, we can order something
nifty for the seminar participants (but it's not cheap). Be sure to check
out the bulletin board under "Proetst" (English and German).
Save
the Ampelmann! nice graphic of the Steher (wait) and the Geher (walk).
Feminist
variant: clever, pointed, funny (in German).
U.S.News
version
Dutch version
How's your Dutch?
