Theme Week Hamburg – St. Pauli, Reeperbahn, St. Pauli Landing Bridges and Fish Market
30 January 2011 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time: 15 minutes St. PauliSt. Pauli located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn. Around 28,000 inhabitans are living here. At the beginning of the 17th century it developed as a suburb called “Hamburger Berg” (Hamburg mountain) outside the gates of the nearby city of Hamburg and close to the city of Altona. The name comes from a hill in that area that was planed by Hamburg in 1620 for defence reasons (free field of fire for the artillery). Therefore, settlement was initially allowed there, but soon businesses, which were not desired inside Hamburg, e.g. for their smell or noise, were relegated to “Hamburger Berg”. Also the rope makers (or “Reeper” in Low German) went here because in the city it was hard to find enough space for their work. The name of St. Pauli’s most famous street Reeperbahn, or “Rope Walk”, harkens back to its rope making past. When people were officially allowed to live in St. Pauli at the end of the 17th century the city government moved workhouses and (pestilence) hospitals out of the city to “Hamburger Berg”, which later was named after its church, “St. Pauli” (Saint Paul). read more…