The Mobile Zebra Crossing

How can pedestrians legally cross a street wherever they want to, and not at the whim of traffic planners? Thanks to Gerhard Lang’s mobile zebra, a 600-person procession through the streets, alleys, backyards and car parks of Kassel was able to cross streets without jaywalking. The procession, organised by Helmut Aebischer, Ruth Jureczek and Gerhard Lang, honoured Lang’s friend, collaborator and former professor Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003), the inventor of the field of Spaziergangswissenschaft (Strollology) at the University of Kassel.

Lucius Burckhardt’s response to the mobile zebra crossing: “Moving once more through the city, as was presumably possible in the old days: you cross the street, there where you want to and where you can cut short your route … Pedestrians can avoid being arrested for jaywalking simply by bringing along their own zebra crossing.”