European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                St. Pauli District visit this swinging Harbor City to take a walk on the wild Side by Kevin Robinson staff writer i Lamburg after dark offers the Normal night life a clubs Heaters and restaurants a that can be found everywhere in Germany. However the action in this Northern City of 1.7 million people also has an Edge to it that is As Sharp As a razor. If you walk on its wild Side you May be in for a roller coaster ride that can leave you dizzy and maybe even broke. Amid a Square mile suction of Hamburg North of the City s main Harbor Landing area is the St. Pauli District s entertainment area. Some 500 night spots Are packed in this area offering everything for everybody restaurants discos Beer Halls and even a theater called the Ope Hettenhaus that shows the hit musical cd its year round. But there is also a strip a red Light District known As the Reeper Bahn. Actually Reeper Bahn is the name of the main Street that slices through the heart of St. Pauli s sex shops live sex shows and Legal prostitution. But the Reeper Bahn is just one mad Avenue of thrills or bad dreams that combines with Davi Strasse Crosse Freiheit and Herber Strasse to form the most infamous sex District this Side of Amsterdam said Harald Schroder a local tour guide for 15 years in Hamburg. In 1960, the beatles performed before their first live audiences at St Pauli when they played the Star club. The club burned Down and the Amigo club now stands in its place. Some 250,000 people the majority of them tourists stroll the sidewalks along this strip on Friday and saturday nights. It s a popular area where people Don t ask what Side of the tracks you Hail from Schroder said. Quot if you go to the downtown discos you May or May not get in Quot Schroder said. Some of the trendier downtown clubs restrict w Hom they let in he said. St. Pauli has the feel of being a Haven for pimps pickpockets pushers and panhandlers but that is far from reality said Christopher Heilmann Shroder s Friend and fellow tour guide for the last 17 years. Quot i always try to explain to my guests that St. Pauli in t dangerous Quot Heilmann said. Quot but they want your Money and if you pick the wrong place it can be  three or four of the clubs that promote sex shows Are reasonable Shroder said. However some of them have a Way of stacking up Quot Quot hidden Quot charges where an unsuspecting tourist could easily run up a 1,000 Mark Bill. Quot in some places a Beer is just 10 Marks but Brandy must be sold with the Beer and the Brandy May Cost 100 Marks Quot Shroder said. Quot then a girl jumps on you. If you get drunk. And lose control they will rip you . Heilmann loves to Tell the Story about swedish tourists who frequent the Reeper Bahn during their summer vacation months. There Are strict rules on alcohol in Sweden so when they hit Hamburg they let it Loose Heilmann said. Quot the swedes come Here get drunk and lose everything Quot he said. Quot they end up broke at the train station. We Send them to the swedish consulate where they get a train ticket and a Box lunch to go  the Cornerstone of the red Light District is prostitution. Be it ladies men or the transvestites who congregate at the hotel Rasputin prostitution thrives legally from 8 . To 4 . Female prostitutes during the cold weather months walk the streets of the District dressed in ski or sweat suits and Tennis shoes. Along Herber Strasse female prostitutes sit in front of huge windows dressed in provocative lingerie and Hawk themselves for a minimum of 100 Marks. Before the aids epidemic about 5,000 prostitutes were registered in St. Pauli. Now 4,000 Are licensed to work Shroder said. They pay taxes and Are checked for sexually transmitted diseases by a health inspector once a week. About 98 percent of them work with condoms he said. Quot the feeling is if you legalize it you can control it Quot Shroder said. Quot in the St. Georg District near the Haup Banhof there Are prostitutes but they Are not licensed. Most of them Are drug addicts and they will do anything. It s not Safe  although St. Pauli is the hottest Section of town it does t have a monopoly on Hamburg nightlife. In fact the City has and continues a Strong love affair with american jazz. Jazz became big in the 1920s, Heilmann said. Quot people later were excited about the Glenn Miller sound. Locally there was a jazz saxophone player named Teddy staufer who played at the Cotton club and the Pavillion a both of which still exist today As a traditional jazz  Hamburg s shopping area is a stage for Many musicians. The world famous Reeper Bahn slices through the heart of St. Pauli s sex shops live sex shows and Legal prostitution. Stripes Magazine november 19, 1992