We may have stopped paying with the Deutsche Mark 8 years ago, but every now and then I see a shop that still accepts the old currency.

My latest sighting was in the pedestrian precinct in Oberursel:

And apparently this shop is not the only one in the town!

Seen at one of the town gates in Horb a.N.

The sign is next to one of the town gates and shows that traffic coming out of the town has priority, and that the clearance through the gate is only 3.30m

One of the things that I’ve always wondered about in Germany, is why some pedestrian crossings – eg. in Nordrhein Westfalen – have two red men on them:

Pedestrian traffic lights in Cologne

I have two theories:

1. It reinforces the red light by having two.  If one stops working, the other one should still light up.

2. It’s cheaper because the towns only need to buy one type of light and then use different filters on them, rather than buying 3-lamp and 2-lamp lights.  Surely it must use more energy, though?

Does anyone know the answer?