Maybe it’s a year of celebrating small pleasures. A medium-sized pleasure was having the chance to be back in Berlin for a few days in September, as the mid-point of my work trip to Germany and Austria. But the small but perfectly formed pleasure is the traffic light men.
Some of you may know that East and West Berlin had different symbols on their lights for pedestrians. Both had a green and a red man, but of different shape. When the wall came down, there was talk of converting all the traffice lights to having the West Berlin type of red and green men.
East Berlin is becoming increasingly trendy, with films like Goodbye Lenin becoming more widely known. But part of the early assertion of East Berlin culture was the campaign to keep their traffic light men. My former German flat mate, G, even had a book about it, and about traffic light men in other countries. I also have postcards of the East Berlin ones in the bathroom (from a previous trip).
So, the great excitement was being able to visit the Ampelmann [traffic light man] shop, situated conveniently close to the office I was visiting. Many more people would have received Ampelmann Christmas presents, if only I could be sure you would like them as much as I do! But for those who are intrigued, you can also buy online:Â
So, I stuck to buying an Umwelttasche [‘save the environment’ reusable bag] with the Ampelmaenner on. But a couple of months later, on a trip to one of these pottery shops where you choose the item and decorate it yourself, I decided to increase my stocks, and paint my own mug.
The delight of the blog is that I can also show you pictures to fuel your interest.
Just remember to look both ways before crossing over to the Ampelmaenner.
[PS The little green man has now become the home image on this blog! January 2013]
So you’ve been to Berlin, even to the Ampelmann shop, and did not tell neither Annett nor me? You have to promise, Al, that next time you get in touch in advance!! Love, Griti!!