SWARCO Traffic Systems brings Pumuckl back to television

It has been over 60 years since a cheeky, red-haired goblin first saw the light of day and was introduced to the public on Bavarian radio – Pumuckl.
For decades, he managed to put a smile on the faces of both children and adults in German-speaking countries with his warm-hearted pranks – whether at the expense of master carpenter Franz Eder at the beginning or at the expense of his nephew Florian over 60 years later.

Last year, however, things went rather quiet around the little likeable character – did he retire? Quite the opposite! Because he's back – albeit in a slightly different form.
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Mobility officer Georg Dunkel (from left), illustrator Barbara von Johnson, Ellis Kaut daughter Ursula Bagnall and Mayor Dieter Reiter unveil the first Kobold traffic light.

Photo credits: Stephan Rumpf, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/pumuckl-muenchen-lehel-ampel-wo-li.3195045.

The red-haired goblin now also sees green

What is immediately noticeable: somehow he is different. He seems to have matured. Instead of constant mischief, he has made improving road safety his top priority. And he seems to have lost his shyness, too: whereas he used to make himself invisible as soon as strangers appeared, he now shines brightly with his presence – in both red and green – and shows pedestrians whether or not they can safely cross the street. But how?

Not far from the location where the first Pumuckl TV series was filmed in the 1980s – at the intersection of Liebigstraße, Triftstraße and Wagmüllerstraße in Munich, where Meister Eder's workshop was located in a backyard at Widenmayerstraße 2 – Pumuckl now watches over road safety. SWARCO Traffic Systems GmbH recently brought him back to his home in the form of a pedestrian crossing, where he not only improves the situation for pedestrians, but also puts a smile on their faces.

Of course, good news like this doesn't stay hidden for long: the great cooperation with Pumuckl also immediately attracted influential media outlets from radio and print, who were happy to report on the new installation.

Pumuckl in the traffic light pictogram.
​​​​​​​Photo credits: BR/Peter Steinhöfe, https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/hurra-hurra-die-pumuckl-ampel-ist-da,USUoevs.