East German Ampelmännchen

The Ampelmännchen is the little hatted figure of East German pedestrian traffic lights — a stationary red man with arms outstretched to stop, and a jaunty striding green man to walk. Designed in 1961 by traffic psychologist Karl Peglau, it exists only as a glowing coloured silhouette on a dark signal lens. The dark housing is authentic: these figures live as light, never as ink. After reunification the brimmed-hat figure survived as a beloved Ostalgie icon and design brand, its warm grass-green and signal-red instantly legible.

小绿人 Ampelmännchen 是东德行人信号灯上那个戴礼帽的小人——叉开双臂示意停步的红色立姿小人， 和迈着轻快步伐示意通行的绿色行走小人。它由交通心理学家 Karl Peglau 于 1961 年设计， 1969 年在东柏林首次点亮。它只以发光彩色剪影的形式存在于深色信号灯罩上：黑底是真实的， 这些小人本就是「光」，从不是「墨」。两德统一后，这位戴帽小人作为深受喜爱的「东德怀旧」 （Ostalgie）符号与设计品牌存活下来，温暖的草绿与信号红一眼即懂。