When Communism meets Capitalism

The East German Ampelmännchen, or "little traffic light man"

Ampelmännchen and more conventional form

There has been almost a comic controversy going on between two businessmen, one from East Germany and one from West Germany about the use of the Ampelmännchen, or "little traffic light man" (Ampelmannchen), an iconic symbol, orginating in the East. So what used to be idealogical differences transformed itself into patent litigation about who has the commercial rights to the symbol. It's no small matter, as related memorabilia sales generated almost $3 million in annual revenue as of 2005. I couldn't find any udates on sales figures or the status of the litigation. Actually, the use of the Ampelmännchen represents the cultural and political divide that obviously still exists between the two, now united, Germany's. Whereas the West used a skinnier, more traditional version traffic symbol, or the typical red light/green light, East Germany utilized the more prosaic one. There was actually quite an uproar upon reunification when the West Germans wanted to impose their version. A committee was formed, protesting the decision and now you see traffic lights with either the West German version, the East German version, or both. Those wacky Germans!