The distinctive guides for pedestrians (translated as "little traffic light man") are introduced in East Berlin, though they would not be widely installed at the city's intersections until 1969.
From press.visitberlin.de: "The luminous little men were first deployed at the Friedrichstrasse/Unter den Linden crossroads ... The success story of the Ampelmännchen is closely linked with the checkered history of the capital. Only when Germany was reunified did the figures move into the limelight. When plans to replace the GDR design with West German traffic light symbols were revealed, a surge of indignation swept through the country and the Ampelmännchen advanced to the status of beloved cultural artifacts. When the little chaps found their way into the western part of the city, it became clear that the Ampelmännchen are a symbol of reunified Berlin ..."
* History (from ampelmann.de): @
* Company video: @
* History (from www.germany.info): @
* "Men in Hats: East Germany's Cult Pedestrian Signal Turns 50" (from Spiegel Online): @
* "Green Light -- The Red and Green Man at 50" (from www.germany.info): @
* "East Germany's little green man makes a name for himself in the West" (from London Times): @
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