Death of an Ampleman

Back in the day when the GDR (aka Soviet Union) controlled East Berlin while the US, UK and France administered the West, a wall was built dividing the people. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, an isolated species will evolve differently according to the law of ‘Survival of the Fittest’. What he did not predict is that his law applies to stop lights as well.

Today you can see the evolutionary effect walking through the streets of Berlin. If the little cross walk guy is wearing a hat, you’re in the East, where as your plain vanilla hatless ‘Ampleman’ indicates you’re in the West.



East Germans strongly resisted the idea of converting to the less interesting West German stick figures during the reunification of Germany, and as a consequence, the little man (the "Ampelmännchen") of the East Berlin traffic lights have become a ubiquitous symbol Berlin. However Ampelman nostalgia has taken its toll, and the Berlin government thinks it’s a great idea to make ALL crosswalk lights (even in West Berlin) Ampelmen. Now if you walk through the deep west of Berlin (like Dahlem) you can see Ampelmen, putting my Berliner compass into frenzy, and detracting from Berlin’s unique personality. ‘Survival of the fittest’ my rear end … all I have to say is DARWIN IS WRONG !!!