Kelsey's Travel Blog!
I travel not to escape life, but to be sure that life will not escape me! Come join me!
Der Reeperbahn
Oh the Reeperbahn. Many a night, I found my way to you, friends in tow, Weg-Bier in hand, hopping from bar to club to bar to lounge, from 10:00pm until the sun came up at 7:00am. The Reeperbahn is easily the place where your moral compass, your good judgment, and your liver go to die. There is a reason this place is described in German as “die sündige Meile” or “this sinful mile”. Every Friday and Saturday night, when the sun goes down, the Germans come out to play. From all over northern Germany, people flock to Hamburg like it’s a pilgrimage to experience the insanity that is the Reeperbahn.
Lined with restaurants, night clubs, discotheques and bars, this street in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district is one of the centers of Hamburg’s nightlife, and is also the location of the city’s red-light district. There are a number of strip clubs, sex shops, brothels, a sex museum and other similar establishments, just to give you an idea of the atmosphere of this place. When describing the atmosphere to our friends back home, Shelby and I liked to describe it as such: If you put the sex culture of Amsterdam, the Casinos and swarms of people of Las Vegas, and the party mentality of Bourbon Street into a drink mixer, shook it up, and poured it out, you would get something like the Reeperbahn. Every weekend is an out of control, shit show of fun, and everyone was invited to this crazy ass party.
There are a number of areas, mainly confined to side streets that one can wander into. Groe Freiheit one of the most famous of cross streets, has a number of bars, especially the iconic Dollhouse, which features girls on poles. It’s not as trashy as you might think. The music is great, the drinks are good, and the atmosphere is unlike anywhere else. Spielbudenplatz, another side street, is filled of other favorites like Hörsall and Hamburger Berg has one of our favorites, Headcrash.
There is no shortage of clubs and bars for people to visit. You can find all types of music and scenes on the Reeperbahn, so no matter your cup of tea, there is a place for you here: from Funk, Ska and Soul, to more traditional club music like Trance, Techno, Hip Hop, etc. It’s not uncommon to see a punk kid and a rich yuppie walking into two different places right next to each other. When the weather starts to warm up, the benches and tables come out into the middle of the street, the road is blocked off, and Germans enjoy drinks and conversation outside. It is really a dream come true for a night owl like me.
Better yet, Germany, unlike the States, doesn’t have last call, so if you have the stamina and training, it is incredibly easy to be out until the sun comes up. One moment, you are walking into a club, getting drinks, and dancing the night away, and the next, you are stumbling out of that same club, the sun is coming up, and you are trying to find your way to the fish market.
The fish market, better known as the Fischmarkt, is located in the Hamburg Harbor and is held every Sunday from 5-9am and is full of locals, tourists, and night owls that stumble in from the Reeperbahn only a few blocks away. It is a tradition that dates back 300 years, and especially has some of the freshest fish sandwiches I have ever had, which also doubles as actually healthy drunk food. There is often music, lots of dancing, and even more beer to either start your morning off right, or end the evening with a bang, whichever way you look at it.
The best thing about choosing Hamburg as my study abroad city is that there is never a dull or monotonous moment, thanks in part to the night life on the Reeperbahn. Whether I was going out with my German or international friends, there was always a new place or bar to discover. After public views of the Euro cup, we would also make our way to the Reeperbahn and celebrate a win, or mourn a loss, just as the Germans do. The Reeperbahn brought me many nights of insanity, lots of alcohol, and a young, enthusiastic atmosphere that I enjoyed throughout my entire semester abroad. Germans, both young and old, enjoy the Reeperbahn every weekend, which gives me hope that, no matter my age, I can still hang with even the youngest crowd. I can’t wait to return to this “sinful mile” and revisit some of my favorite places, as well as discover even more of what the Reeperbahn as to offer.