Sankt Pauli – Local tips (art & culture)

The air is filled with the shouting and yelling of vendors, clusters of people are crowding around stands and trucks, empty cardboard boxes are flying, bags are stuffed with fish, baskets are filled to the rim with produce and sold for as little as € 20.

Hamburg’s fish market is legendary and simply a must for every visitor. Since 1703 merchants have been trading everything you can imagine. Today the choice of products ranges from a wide selection of seafood and meat, exotic fruits and veggies, pastries, household items, Hamburg souvenirs to live animals including guinea pigs, bunnies, geese and chicken.

A unique feature of this market is that many items are sold and traded in bulk, often directly from the truck. Things get very hectic and exciting for both merchants and customers when closing time is announced over the loud speaker – gotta make that last deal!

In addition to the early birds, many night owls come here to conclude a long night on Reeperbahn with a fish sandwich and some coffee. The brunch at the historic “Fischauktionshalle” (fish auction hall) with live music (Jazz, Country, Western, German classics) is special highlight!

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Fischmarkt | Art & culture, Shopping
Fischmarkt 2 | Sankt Pauli
Oct – Mar: Sun 07:00 – 09:30, Apr – Sep: Sun 05:00 – 09:30

Spring arrived in Hamburg!!! Best time for Frau Hedi!

You want it all crazy and freaking out, here we go:

This tiny barge has the funniest program I’ve ever seen from “Le Superdisco Française” to “Scandinavian Pop Party” to “Australian Spring Celebration” to “Russian Datscha Party”. Left of all footbridges at Landungsbrücken 10, there you’ll find “Frau Hedi” every hour (check out the events before).

Pay the entrance ( € 6.00 – € 10.00) and have an awesome (and every hour different) way around the harbour with crazy music and dancing.

Around 01:00 the party relocates from the barge to the “Frau Hedis Landgang”, a pub in the Schanze (see this article).

It’s always great fun for me! One of my best insider’s tips!

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Frau Hedi | Art & culture, Music | Entrance from € 6.00
Sankt-Pauli-Landungsbrücken 10 | Sankt Pauli
Fri – Sun from 17:00

Behind big red walls is the most sinful street of Hamburg. Around 250 women work there, sitting in shop windows, waiting for any male walking the only 60 m street. It’s probably the most polarizing street ever.

Here the history in short: In horrible times of National Socialism there was a prohibition on stripteases and prostitution. But in St. Pauli they couldn’t eliminate the typical business. So it was only allowed in one narrow street – Herbertstraße. To let nobody see what is officially forbidden, the head of Nazi district built barriers on both ends in 1933. Since 70’s there have been big signs forbidding women and teenagers under 18 years to enter.

So that’s why I collected all quotes from male friends, after waiting for them on the other side: „Women in shop-windows flirt with me.”, „In my imagination this street was bigger.”, „Why the women do that?”, „I saw a nurse had hardly got a stitch on.”, „Clear offers everywhere.”, „This way is much shorter, than the long way around!”, „How long did you wait for me?”

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Herbertstraße | Art & culture
Herbertstrasse | Sankt Pauli
24 hours daily

This small place for art is set in a very nice old building downtown St. Pauli and the store used to be a bakery and even a liquor store once which you can tell from the old tiles in the rooms.

They regularly show small exhibitions from German and foreign artists. The gallery is an easy-going and “non-posh” setting for small but interesting art. So don’t expect any fancy gallery but dedicated makers who want to give space for young and talented artists. On the website you can check-out the dates for Vernissage and Finissage, if you wanna mingle with the crowd.

The current exhibition in March is called “Secret volume” by the the artist Judith Mall. New thing to be found: on Wednesday evening (fortnightly from 10th March) there is a special movie on display. Some of them will be in original  -so check it out!

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Kunst- und Kulturverein LINDA eV | Art & culture | Free
Hein-Hoyer-Str. 13 | Sankt Pauli | +494021999292
Sun 15:00 – 19:00

“We love you, we love you, we love you, and where you play we follow, we follow, we follow, ’cause we support Sankt Pauli – Sankt Pauli, Sankt Pauli, and that’s the way we like it – we like it, we like it, Ooooohhhhhh – Oooohhhhhh”

There is no big wow-effect if you come in the stadium and you won’t think: jeeesus, this is huuuuge! No, the Millerntor is simple and cult. Here I lived through cheers to black despair, from being stunned till my eyes were filled with tears. The fans are unique! The football players step in the arena supported by AC/DC’s “Hells Bells”, the people sing and dance everywhere and show the brown and white colours of their flags.

That moment gives me goosebumps. Old-punks and alternatives, students and businessmen come together singing the same songs. Not only is the game important but also the atmosphere. Whether you come just for a beer (of course Astra 3,50 Euro) or jumping and singing with the Ultra Sankt Pauli Fans in the south stand.

If FC Sankt Pauli scored, Blur’s “Song 2″ is the song of the moment. If they lose the game, there is only one sentence in the air: “As a fan of St. Pauli you need to be suffering!” and singing goes on: Ooooooolé, forza Sankt Pauli!

Millerntor Timetable till end of season:

14.03.2010, FC St. Pauli : SC Rot-Weiß Oberhausen28.03.2010, FC St. Pauli : FC Hansa Rostock

Between 09. and 12.04.2010, FC St. Pauli : FC AugsburgBetween 23. and 26.04.2010, FC St. Pauli : TuS Koblenz

Last Season Game: 09.05.2010, FC St. Pauli : SC Paderborn 07

After the season and the hopefully move up from second to first Bundesliga, in June 2010 the FC Sankt Pauli became 100 years old and the plannings are running at full speed.

By the way, in summertime (in the soccer summer break, around middle of June till middle of August): Movienights at Millerntor. It opens at 20:30. Come early and you will get one of the 1500 seas. A new big screen and the all-weather-roof are fantastic! The movie starts at 21:30  (after sunset). The prices are affordable: movie 6 Euro, Astra 3,50 Euro and popcorn 1,50 Euro.

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Millerntor-Stadion | Art & culture, Festivals & events | Entrance for the South Stand € 11.00
Auf dem Heiligengeistfeld | Sankt Pauli | +494031787451
See program

:: SPRING ARRIVES! GET OUT TO THE PARK FICTION! ::

Less tourists, more St. Pauli’er!

Park Fiction is a collective project by active residents from St. Pauli. It’s a green oasis in the middle of Hamburg with a nice view of the harbour with Blohm & Voss‘ dockyard 10 and 11 . This small (only 1500 m2) artificial park is an absolute insider tip.

The lawn was created in waves and equipped with artificial palm-trees. Lots of bike performers and skaters are around. For children, there is a tartan playground with big tulips on the ground and also (very hard to find in Germany) a dog park.

I really love this small recreational park for reading a book and drinking a sparkling rhubarb juice from the Amphore Café (see the Amphore article) beside.

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Park Fiction | Art & culture, Relaxing
Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse | Sankt Pauli
24 hours daily

For the more athletic adventurer, Hamburg has something fun in store: discover the city on inline skates! Come out on a Sunday afternoon to join a weekly group skate for a 2-hour tour of some beautiful spots in Hamburg. Regardless of whether you’re just visiting or new in town, this group of fun loving locals is always happy to welcome newbies. The only requirement for participation is that you have some experience and know how to brake!

Meeting point for this year-round activity is the ice rink at Planten un Blomen, and from there you’re off to Fleethof, Jungfernstieg, Mönckebergstrasse, Speicherstadt, Hafencity, Landungsbrücken, and Reeperbahn. The tour usually concludes with a nice dinner at a restaurant in Schanze. A decent, comfortable pace and frequent stops will allow you to keep up with the group, and give you the opportunity to get acquainted with your fellow skaters. I bet you will learn a lot of interesting facts about the various spots.

The annual highlight of this recreational skate is the celebration of both the beginning and the end of the skating season (spring and fall). This tradition involves skating around town in costumes, which always attracts quite a lot of attention. So what are you waiting for?!

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Stadttour Hamburg | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Holstenwall 26 | Sankt Pauli
Sun 15:00 (in the summer, after daylight savings time,16:00)

Let’s descend to the bottom of the Elbe river! The old Elbe tunnel, opened in 1911, is one of the oldest still operating tunnels in Europe. Open to traffic and pedestrians, it connects the inner city of Hamburg at Landungsbrücken (north entrance) with the shipyards at Steinwerder (south entrance). The south side of the Elbe river offers a spectacular view of Hamburg’s cityscape that is most impressive when it’s lit at night.

If you feel daring, you’ll walk down the staircase, which takes you 24 m below the surface. If you’d rather save your energy, hop onto one of the elevators instead.  The best time to explore during the week is after 20:00, or on weekends when the tunnel is closed to traffic. Take in the full scope of the decorative elements, and admire the glazed ceramic reliefs depicting maritime motifs on the walls of the 426 m long tiled tubes.

Recently, this historic landmark has inspired various annual projects: For the past 8 years, 100 Marathon Club Deutschland e.V. has been organizing the Elbtunnel marathon every last Sunday in January. Since 2007, ElbArt has been inviting local artists to exhibit their work in the tunnel in the summertime. One day, a friend and I encountered two musicians playing with the acoustics of the structure reverberating sounds of their instruments. That was amazing!

As the tunnel is currently undergoing renovation, look for signs pointing you in the right direction of the elevators. When you get to the south side, pass the toll booth, and turn left (make a u-turn at that building) to walk down a little paved path to the Elbe.

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The old Elbe tunnel | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Landungsbrücken 7 | Sankt Pauli | +4940428474742
24 hours daily for pedestrians & cyclists