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The Reeperbahn runs westwards from Millerntor through Hamburg's St. Pauli district. It is synonymous with the entertainment district, which is also home to Hamburg's red-light scene. Along its roughly 930 metres, you will find countless pubs, bars, discos, restaurants and nightclubs. It is also known as the “most sinful mile in the world”.
The street got its name because rope makers and ropers had their workshops here. They needed a lot of space to make ships' ropes, because the long ropes were produced on what was known as a ropewalk (Reepschlägerbahn).
Reeperbahn is the Low German word for the standard German “Reiferbahn”, meaning ropewalk. On a ropewalk like this, ropes up to three hundred metres long could be made. By comparison, its smaller equivalent, the Seilerbahn, could only produce ropes up to 50 metres long.
Only one ropewalk survives in Hamburg today, in Hamburg-Hausbruch on the southern side of the Elbe.
In 1860/61, Hamburg's nightly gate closure (Torsperre) was abolished and the city expanded beyond its former boundaries. People could now settle here and still take part in the city's trade. From 1826, architect Carl Ludwig Wimmel had a small row of houses built between Hamburger Berg and Millerntor, although some of them were demolished to make way for the cross streets Hein-Hoyer-Straße and Bremer Straße, laid out in the 1880s.
Lingovo, Schürbeker Straße 5, 22087 Hamburg
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Historically speaking, however, today's Reeperbahn is not where the ropers actually worked. Their ropewalk was on the parallel Simon-von-Utrecht-Straße, with Seilerstraße lying between the two streets. Today, the name Reeperbahn as the “mile of sin” is not limited to the street itself but also covers the surrounding area, which locals call the Kiez.
Running parallel to the Reeperbahn to the south is Herbertstraße, a brothel street that can only be entered on foot through two privacy screens.
On the Reeperbahn you will find plenty of nightclubs, bars and discos, the windowless pub “Zur Ritze” with its own boxing cellar, and all kinds of venues in the side streets, such as Große Freiheit or around Hans-Albers-Platz.
Alongside the Reeperbahn, you will find Germany's best-known police station, the Davidwache, as well as the St. Pauli Theater, the Schmidt Theater, Schmidts Tivoli, the Operettenhaus and the Panoptikum waxworks museum. Well-known adult venues include the Dollhouse, the Safari Bierdorf and A la Charm. Club de Sade, Europe's oldest S&M club, has been around since the 1960s.
Numerous musicals have been staged at the Operettenhaus:
Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber – in German
Mamma Mia! The ABBA musical (German version)
Ich war noch niemals in New York (I've Never Been to New York)
Sister Act
Rocky – fight from the heart
Hinterm Horizont (Beyond the Horizon)
The Reeperbahn became famous through the song “Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins” (“On the Reeperbahn at half past midnight”), sung by Hans Albers in the film “Große Freiheit Nr. 7” (UFA, 1943). His statue stands on Hans-Albers-Platz.
1960s: the Beatles performed at the “Star-Club”, “Kaiserkeller”, “Top Ten Club” and “Indra”, commemorated today by Beatles-Platz. The only star on the Reeperbahn's pavement belongs to Udo Lindenberg, who sang about the “geile Meile” (“awesome mile”) in his song “Reeperbahn” – as did Tom Waits in his song of the same name.
Major annual events:
Reeperbahn Festival, Schlagermove, Harley Days,
September 2011: topping-out ceremony for the Tanzende Türme (Dancing Towers).
2013: Mojo Club reopens
