European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Crowds make their Way beneath glaring Neon signs of Hamburg s famed Reeper Bahn strip in this 7979 photograph. Hamburg s Sank Pauli the red lights have dimmed by Carol j. Williams associated press in the Garish apartments of what once was the Eros Center cabaret and bordello in Hamburg indigent immigrants from Eastern Europe shuffle along the hallways in kerchiefs and worn leather Caps. On Grosse Freiheit the renowned Row of Rowdy nightclubs that launched International Rock luminaries like the beatles and Jimi Hendrix burned out Light bulbs and faulty Neon signs serve now Only to advertise the creeping neglect that afflicts one of the world s most famous red Light districts. Along that glitzy strand once called the most sinful mile in the world the clubs and pubs and Peep shows hanging onto life with a dwindling clientele Are furnished with tattered banquettes and wobbly tables. They Are darkened by windows smudged with Ages of tobacco smoke. Beset by aids fears unemployment and a Boom in x rated video cassettes Hamburg s famed Sank Pauli St. Paul District has fallen on the hardest times of its colourful 150-year history. In the Early 19th Century the no Man s land Between the rival ports of Hamburg and Altona welcomed the boisterous Brood of sailors and riggers scorned by fashionable City centers. But the image of outrage worn for years with Pride has decayed leaving Sank Pauli in much the same state of decline As other entertainment quarters past their prime. Today the traces of a Long life of excess appear like wrinkles on a face that has not aged gracefully. Blinking coloured lights from the surviving sex shops and discos illuminate the litter and grime As clearly As the prostitutes bundled in pastel coloured ski suits against the brisk Winter winds off the Elbe. Estimated to number about 2,000, or half the number a generation ago the women smoke or sip Coffee from foam cups while surveying a motorized Stream of carousels and the curious. In the last years because of unemployment and aids and a general reduction in the Money available for this kind of entertainment Sank Pauli has seen a progressive decline and is unlikely to recover from it said Hans Dittrich chief of the Davi Wache police station that stands guard at fun House Square. In some ways Sank Pauli s loss has been Hamburg s gain. The departure of Many prostitutes and pornography shops made Way for More legitimate businesses and resulted in fewer assaults killings and other serious crimes Dittrich said. We still have 10 or 12 purse snatching or unarmed assaults each month but the trend has been one of decline. I would characterize Sank Pauli now As one of the safer areas of the City. Tourists have no need to fear leaving their cars Here and walking around for a look at what used to be the Region s reputation now draws More Gawker than stalkers a trend that frustrates the Economy of Sank Pauli while maintaining its bustling appearance by night. Some who do business in the area especially its famed Reeper Bahn strip complain that it survives today merely As a tourist attraction. Why would a Guy want to sit in a cabaret and have to pay hundreds of Marks to drink Champagne when he can rent the same thing on a video cassette and watch it at Home asks Edwin Ross who for 33 years has painted nude murals and signboards for Sank Pauli s sex Heaters. The Only people Here now Are first time visitors who remember a Reeper Bahn that no longer it s unfortunate we cannot stay open at night when the women who come Here out of curiosity Are looking into our windows said Eva Maria Roepke who operates a lingerie and cosmetics store. West German Law dictates that sales outlets must close by 6 30 . On weekdays and stay open for Only a few hours on saturdays. Roepke s shop has been hard hit by the closure of Eros Center one of the Region s two largest houses of prostitution. There used to be 600 girls around the Corner but now there Are Only immigrants who have no Money to spend on goods like these she lamented gesturing toward the skimpy and shimmering night clothes adorning the Walls. Eros Center owner Wilhelm Bartels told the Magazine Dresp Ege when he shuttered the sprawling sex shop last year that aids has finished off Sank while the health threat has Cut deeply into the volume of sex Trade in the Region the Economy has followed with a devastating finishing blow. West Germany suffers from an 8 percent unemployment rate and the nature of the merchants a Marine has shifted Over the past two decades to a Fleet comprised More often of married family men than single sailors and stevedores. A nationwide liberalization 20 years ago made prostitution Legal Between 8 . And 6 a.m., injecting a degree of regularity and even legitimacy into the ancient profession. Precinct chief Dittrich says prostitutes have formed self help groups that work with state officials to offer social Security benefits to those willing to pay taxes on their income and to educate Young women about health risks like the aids virus. The Aura of acceptability has taken some of the mysticism out of what the germans used to Call tinge Tangel a european forerunner of Honky Tonk. With the departure of most of the major sex Heaters have come a number of alternatives appealing to a broader Public like the Caribbean beat of Sam Brasil s live music club and Hamburg s leading discotheque at Kaiser Keller where the beatles introduced their immortal sounds in the Early 1960s before crossing the Street to play at the Star club where they rocketed to International Fame. The Broadway musical cats has drawn crowds at the Ope Hettenhaus since 1985, and a sprawling carnival covers the grounds of Heiliger Geistfeld holy ghost Field three times each year. Some Sank Pauli merchants however Are sceptical of the Region s chances for saving itself. Our Best Days Are Over says Ross 63, who is known As the Rubens of the Reeper Bahn. Ross work reflects the evolution of the District and some merchants efforts to ride with a changing tide. Ross says most of his business now is in painting signs for doughnut shops and discos or making portraits from photographs to be Hung in private Homes. There s no More business with cabarets says the artist who arrived in 1955 from East Germany where he earned his living painting Model workers and communist giants like Marx Engels and Lenin. The daytime scene attests to a grim economic future with streets empty of All but derelicts and discarded fast food wrappers wafting in the curls of Breeze brushing the Curbstone. You can t make this into a Moulin Rouge in Paris with fancy shows for which you have to pay 20 or 30 dancers says Ross. For Sank Pauli those Days Are unfortunately in the 24 stripes Magazine february 2, j 989
