Herbertstraße

Herbertstraße in Hamburg's St. Pauli district is a short, narrow alley connecting Davidstraße with Gerhardstraße. The site has been used for prostitution since the first buildings went up in 1794. The street name goes back to a 19th-century alphabetical naming scheme that assigned men's first names to streets south of the Reeperbahn. The street was originally called Heinrichstraße, but it was renamed Herbertstraße in 1922 to erase the old name after an attempt to turn the alley into a purely residential street failed.

Today, the women present themselves in the so-called Koberfenster, the display windows of the buildings, where they wait for customers. One historical feature is the screens at both ends of the street, erected in 1933 under the Nazi regime to hide the officially banned activities from passersby. Signs at these entrances now prohibit minors and women from entering, which is legally controversial, since the street is classified as a public thoroughfare.

The place is also well known in culture and the media. Scenes for the film "Polizeirevier Davidswache" were shot here, among other productions, and various media reports as well as a ZDF documentary series have explored the history of the street and its residents. In 2024, a Stolperbordstein (a curbstone memorial similar to a Stolperstein) was also installed to commemorate the prostitutes persecuted during the Nazi era.