Curiosities
You’ve probably already noticed, unfortunately it’s just an April Fool’s joke. 😉
But it wouldn’t be impossible, check out our collection of traffic light curiosities around the world that really exist.
Curiosities
Since the rescue of the East German Ampelmännchen, the little traffic wardens have been used throughout the world to deliver friendly messages. Among these, the topic of relationships and equality between the sexes is especially important. In addition, there are many marvellous curiosities.
QUEER SIGNALS - Vienna woke a sleeping giant with the introduction of same-sex pairs of signal light figures. For the 2015 European Song Contest, the city fathers had gay and lesbian silhouettes mounted in the traffic lights. In Austria and Germany, many other cities followed this example and displayed these delightful symbols on Christopher Street Day.
01 | 11
The "Mainzelmännchen" helping people in Mainz to cross the streets safely since November 2016.
02 | 11
During the East German regime, the Ampelmännchen were not taken so seriously in the city of Erfurt. A factory technician adjusted the Ampelmann template during his lunch break and gave the little green man an umbrella. To impress more people than just his colleagues, he made more variations: a football player in front of a stadium, a baker in his bakery and many other humorous motifs. What began as a bit of fun is now a tourist attraction.
03 | 11
In the Dutch city of Amersfoort, there have been pedestrian traffic lights with figures of young women in them since the end of 2000. These bold females were installed in the spirit of gender equality. Today, the red/green woman, known as Sophie appears in many cities throughout the Netherlands.
04 | 11
You can find this piece of art in the Taiwanese capital Taipeh.
05 | 11
The Ampelmännchen carry weapons in the little Danish city of Fredericia. The brave little soldier stands watch over all pedestrians. Since 2008, all traffic signals in the historic centre show the emblem of Fredericia and are a memorial to the Danish victory over Schleswig-Holstein in the Three-year War, 1848 - 1850.
06 | 11
The pedestrian traffic lights in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) come across as quite athletic. Wrestlers, riders and archers symbolize the three national sports. They have been installed for the anniversary of Naadam, the annual celebration of the 1921 revolution.
07 | 11
The Czech artist Roman Týc accepts the fact that there will be a prison sentence for the liberation of the Prague Ampelmännchen. He wants to free them from their “straight jackets“ and at night replaces them with drinking, sleeping, urinating or handicapped Ampelmännchen. The city administration didn’t find the idea very futnny, and Týc was sentenced to a month in jail in 2008.
08 | 11
TRAFFIC LIGHT TREE Canary Wharf, a suburb of London with many skyscrapers, has a very unusual memorial: the traffic light tree of the French artist Pierre Vivant. The construction, featuring 75 signal lights was erected in 1998 in place of a dying tree, as a symbol of the hard-hearted nature of Canary Wharf.
09 | 11
On his 200th birthday, the most famous Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, was presented with his own traffic light. In 2005, his silhouette was mounted on several traffic lights in his hometown of Odense.
10 | 11
Does this traffic light in Argentina really make sense? ;)
11 | 11
