St. Pauli

Reeperbahn

The world's most sinful mile – cradle of the Beatles, musical theatre row, club stronghold.

The Reeperbahn – Low German for 'rope-makers' mile' – is Hamburg's paradoxical boulevard: red-light district, music history, theatre row, tourist attraction and honest residential street, all on 930 metres. This is where the Beatles played 281 nights at the Star-Club between 1960 and 1962 and turned into the band they became ('I was born in Liverpool, but grew up in Hamburg' – John Lennon). 2.5 million tourists walk through every year; 1,500 people live here and have to sleep through the city cleaners' high-pressure hoses every Thursday. By day the Reeperbahn is almost sobering in its harmlessness: snack stands, jewellery shops, the Operettenhaus with The Lion King, the Schmidt Theater and Tivoli, the St. Pauli theatre tradition reaching back to 1841. After 10 p.m. it tips: Mojo Club, Knust, Molotow, Indra, the famous Herbertstraße (men only, over 18, with screens at each end – probably the most famous street in Germany, the one nobody is allowed to photograph), Olivia Jones' Bar Wunderbar as the most reliable Reeperbahn entry point. The Beatles trail runs from Beatles-Platz at the head of Große Freiheit past the Indra (their first Hamburg stage) and the Kaiserkeller. Getting there: S1/S3 Reeperbahn (Davidstraße exit) or U3 St. Pauli. For pure sightseeing, two hours is enough. To really experience the Kiez, come for the Reeperbahn Festival in September or one of the countless St. Pauli pub crawls.

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