Cologne plans gay and lesbian traffic lights for Pride festival
Cologne in western Germany plans to temporarily change 20 traffic lights for pedestrians to show images of same-sex couples, city officials told German media.
“Symbols of same-sex couples are currently being prepared for the period surrounding Christopher Street Day,” spokesman Jürgen Müllenberg told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
The Cologne Pride parade is one of Europe’s largest Pride festivals and will this year observe 50 years since the Stonewall riots in New York’s Christopher Street. The riots saw lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people resist police during a raid on June 28, 1969.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Opium of the masses
This traffic light man is the recognizable German socialist whose leftist theory is still referenced today in the fight against capitalism. To celebrate Karl Marx’s upcoming 200th birthday on May 5, the Mayor of Trier — Marx’s hometown in far western Germany — inaugurated this traffic light in March in honor of the author of “Das Kapital.” The red Marx pictured does also turn green.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Mainz little men
Novelty pedestrian lights abound throughout Germany. In Mainz, for instance, the beloved “Mainzelmännchen” (Mainz little man) have taken charge of pedestrian traffic. The six characters (Anton, Berti, Conni, Det, Edi and Fritzchen) have been gracing lights in the center of the Rhineland-Palatinate capital since late 2016, with more little men planned to feature at intersections across the city.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Green-only Kasper
The popular puppet character Kasper appears on traffic lights in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, but only when green — it remains a conventional red stop light for safety reasons. Indeed, the 17th century character remains one of the most popular performers at the Augsburger Puppenkiste, a local puppet theater for children.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Pferdle and Äffle: Waiting for go
The cartoon characters “Pferdle and Äffle” are yet to be immortalized on traffic lights in Stuttgart. The official fan club of the lovable donkey and monkey that are well-known to German-speaking children are still fighting for traffic lights adorned with the characters to go up in the Baden-Württemberg city. A petition has collected more than 12,000 signatures, showing broad community support.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Beethoven gives the green light
Former German capital Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven, and in 2020 the city celebrates the 250th birthday of the master composer. But the fanfare has already begun, with Beethoven’s portrait now featured on a traffic light at Bertha von Suttner Platz, not far from his birthplace. But again, it only comes in green. Karl Stieler’s famous painting from 1819 inspired the traffic light portrait.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Lights with (same-sex) heart
Not only famous people and culture icons make it onto traffic lights. For the Christopher Street Day season, the city of Frankfurt plans to celebrate gay and lesbian couples on traffic lights in the city center. But it won’t be the first time. Same-sex traffic lights were installed outside the Wiener Stadthalle concert venue in May 2015 (pictured).
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Traffic-light women
In March 2017, ten female pedestrian crossing signals replaced male traffic light symbols in the center of the city of Melbourne in Australia to further debate about gender and sexual discrimination — if only for a twelve month period. The traffic light project initiated by a charitable organization particularly aimed to address unconscious gender bias.
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Novelty traffic symbols light up German cities and beyond
Real Berliners
Germany’s best-known pedestrian traffic light symbol is surely Berlin’s iconic Ampelmann, who can not only be found on street intersections, but also on key rings and t-shirts. The figure was invented by Karl Peglau, who was not a designer but a traffic psychologist in the GDR. In 1969, the first Ampelmann shone in East Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse. Peglau once called them “real citizens of Berlin”.
The city plans to change traffic lights located along the parade route, a spokesman told the DPA news agency.
The city did not say when they would revert the same-sex traffic lights to standard ones.
Several German cities have unique traffic lights. Berlin’s lights feature the iconic Ampelmännchen, Bonn’s feature Beethoven, who was born in the former capital, and Trier’s feature hometown philosopher Karl Marx.
The western town of Friedberg recently transformed some of its lights to feature Elvis Presley, who was stationed nearby as a US army soldier in the late 1950s.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/cologne-plans-gay-and-lesbian-traffic-lights-for-pride-festival/a-47488109?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf