Traffic light men are no longer just traffic light men. In several cities, they shine as same-sex couples. In some places there are local specialties such as “Sams” in Bamberg and a hopping Otto figure in Emden. Now one is added in Stuttgart.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – A traffic light with the motifs of the Swabian cult figures “Horses and Monkeys” should show pedestrians the way from Saturday at Stuttgart Central Station. The fan club of the cartoon characters had announced in advance that red would show a standing monkey and green would show a walking horse. He has been campaigning for such a special traffic light system since 2017. “Äffle” and “Pferdle” are two Swabian-speaking cartoon characters that the Süddeutscher Rundfunk (predecessor of SWR) had developed in the 1960s for short clips between commercial blocks.
According to the information, the Ministry of Transport initially did not want to make any exceptions to the road traffic regulations. The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg finally approved a compromise in 2019 with a double traffic light: In addition to the “Pferdle und Äffle” traffic light, a normal traffic light also shows pedestrians the way.
There are unusual traffic light men in some cities: Emden in Lower Saxony, for example, paid homage to a son of the city, Otto Waalkes, with a hopping figure of the comedian on a traffic light. In the city center of Bamberg in Bavaria, the “Sams” shines on a traffic light, which is very close to the house where the “Sams” films were shot. The creator of the children’s book character, Paul Maar, also lives in Bamberg.
