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Symbol on German pedestrian crossings

Ampelmännchen (; literally little traffic light man, diminutive of Ampelmann ) is the symbol shown on pedestrian signals in Germany. Prior to German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally "male" figure wearing a hat in the East. The Ampelmännchen is a beloved symbol in former East Germany, At that time, traffic lights were the same for cars, bicycles and pedestrians. The East Berlin Ampelmännchen was created in 1961 by traffic psychologist Karl Peglau (1927–2009) as part of a proposal for a new traffic lights layout. Peglau criticised the fact that the standard colours of the traffic lights (red, yellow, green) did not provide for road users who were unable to differentiate between colours (ten percent of the total population), and that the lights themselves were too small and too weak when competing against luminous advertising and sunlight. Peglau proposed retaining the three colours while introducing intuitive shapes for each coloured light. This idea received strong support from many sides, but Peglau's plans were doomed by the high costs involved in replacing existing traffic light infrastructure. Peglau's secretary Anneliese Wegner drew the Ampelmännchen per his suggestions. The initial concept envisioned the Ampelmännchen to have fingers, but this idea was dropped due to technical difficulties with the illumination. However, the man's "perky", "cheerful" and potentially "petit bourgeois" hat – inspired by a summer photo of Erich Honecker in a straw hat – was retained, to Peglau's surprise. The prototypes of the Ampelmännchen traffic lights were built at the VEB Leuchtenbau Berlin. Decades later, Daniel Meuren of the weekly German newsmagazine Der Spiegel described the Ampelmännchen as uniting "beauty with efficiency, charm with utility, [and] sociability with fulfilment of duties". The Ampelmännchen reminded others of a childlike figure with big head and short legs, or a religious leader. The Ampelmännchen proved so popular that it became part of road safety education for children in the early 1980s. Partly animated Ampelmännchen stories with the name Stiefelchen und Kompaßkalle were broadcast once a month as part of the East German children's bedtime television programme Sandmännchen, which had one of the largest viewing audiences in East Germany.

There are three Ampelmännchen variations in modern day Germany – the old East German version, the old West German version, and the pan German Ampelmännchen introduced in 1992. Each German state holds the right to determine the version used. East Germans have changed the look of Ampelmännchen traffic lights as a joke since the early 1980s; this turned into media effective efforts to call attention to the vanishing East German Ampelmännchen in the 1990s. The Ampelmännchen on several traffic lights in Erfurt were changed by modifying the template, showing Ampelmännchen carrying backpacks or cameras. In 2004, Joachim Rossberg invented the female counterpart to the Ampelmännchen, the Ampelfrau, which was installed on some traffic lights in Zwickau, Dresden and Fürstenwalde. The Ampelfrau also appears at some traffic lights in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2019, Fulda, a strongly Catholic city in Hesse, adopted Ampelmännchen designed to look like Saint Boniface, on the occasion of 1275th anniversary of the foundation of Fulda princely abbey.

Roman Tic (a pseudonym playing with "romantic") of the art collective Ztohoven ("(The way) Out of shit") changed some pedestrian traffic lights in the daylight hours of 8 April 2007 in five hours work, with a ladder and wearing red overalls. He used different motifs, including men and women (e. g. drinking, urinating).

On 11 May 2015, before the Life Ball and the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, the city changed some traffic lights to "Ampelpärchen"; these are designs with homo and heterosexual couples, hugging or holding hands. In June 2015, Salzburg (at Staatsbrücke) and Linz (at Mozartkreuzung) followed suit with the same designs. However, in December 2015, a city traffic minister of the party FPÖ dismounted the privately sponsored faceplates, deeming them unnecessary.

On 13 October 2017, Google celebrated the 56th anniversary of the Traffic Light Man with a Google Doodle.