MEET BERLIN’S AMPELMANN

WHERE …

Ampelmann Berlin at Unter den Linden 35

WHEN …

Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 11.47pm

WHAT …

… meet ampelmann.

This jaunty fellow was the character on East German traffic lights telling pedestrians when they could cross – or stop on the red – and has become so popular he now has his own shop in several locations around Berlin.

This is the store on Lindenstrasser halfway between the Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island.

After the Berlin Wall came down studies were done to decide which symbol – the East German or West German – was more effective and the feedback was children responded better to the communist-era character.

So now the old East German ampelmann is popping up in more locations around Berlin including lots of spots on what was once the western side of the wall.

And the shop is super cool selling everything from Christmas ornaments and coffee cups to children’s clothes featuring both the green and red ampelmann.