#ADHOCoutdoors | Not only on Halloween do witches and devils cause mischief in Wernigerode (Harz). Magically glowing green witch pictograms appear in several traffic lights when pedestrians are allowed to cross the street. At red, Lucifer warns of danger. Such signs should be taken seriously. After all, the Brocken mountain is nearby, where the Walpurgis Night is celebrated every year.

In June 2023, the witch traffic lights were considered the first themed traffic lights in Saxony-Anhalt. They were inaugurated in front of the Wernigerode fire station. Later, more were added at the Westerntor intersection. They are especially impressive when the Harz narrow-gauge railway steams past in the background, heading towards the Brocken, of course.

In Germany, “walking” or standing pedestrian figures are the standard. Nothing is supposed to distract from road traffic. While the figures in the west tend to look rather plain and ascetic, the East German pedestrian light from the GDR era appears cute, with its hat, compact shape, and small belly. The popular design, developed by traffic psychologist Karl Peglau, has now “made its way across.” It can now also be found in traffic signals in western federal states. One thing is clear: wider figures are also more visible.

Rules for what a pedestrian traffic light figure may look like are defined by the German guideline for traffic signal systems (RiLSA). Creatively designed traffic light figures are becoming increasingly popular. For example:

• Ottifants in Emden
• Hermann the Cheruscan (red) and his wife Thusnelda (green) in Detmold
• the Pied Piper in Hamelin
• the miner-themed traffic light in Duisburg (inaugurated in 2018 at Duisburg Zoo)
• same-sex figures in Hanover
• Mainzelmännchen in Mainz
• and Elvis Presley in Friedberg, where the “King of Rock ’n’ Roll” was stationed

Nevertheless, some initiatives are still struggling to get their “own” motif approved, for example in Marienfeld in the district of Gütersloh. There has so far been no green light for a monk-themed traffic light, even though a former Cistercian abbey characterizes the town.

The debate continues and is spreading, as reported by “Die Glocke”: a legal scholar plans to raise the topic of themed traffic lights at the Traffic Court Conference 2026 in Goslar.

Sources: City of Wernigerode, Die Glocke et al