The Große Freiheit (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
for: "Great Freedom") is a cross street on the North Side to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
's
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also nick ...
road in the
St. Pauli
St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. ...
quarter. It is part of the
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...
.
History
The street was named in 1610 after the fact that Count
Ernest of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg had granted religious freedom to non-Lutherans such as Mennonites and Roman Catholics to practise their faith here and commercial freedom for handcrafters not enrolled in the else compelling guilds. At that time this district was part of the city of
Altona within the county of
Holstein-Pinneberg
The County of Holstein-Pinneberg (), also known as the County of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg (), was a small territory which existed from 1290 until 1640, centred around Pinneberg in modern-day Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Rise and fall of ...
, and did not yet belong to Hamburg. When the Duchy of
Holstein-Glückstadt Holstein-Glückstadt or Schleswig-Holstein-Glückstadt is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein that were ruled by the Kings of Denmark in their function as dukes ...
annexed Holstein-Pinneberg in 1640 the comital freedoms were confirmed. Non-Lutherans were forbidden to publicly practise their religions in Lutheran Hamburg proper. The street has still a Catholic church (St. Joseph), situated among rather unholy businesses. The Mennonite church, established in 1611, moved into another neighbourhood in 1915.
In 1938, when the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
changed borders with the
Greater Hamburg Act
The Greater Hamburg Act (german: Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), in full the Law Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (german: Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen), was passed by the government of Nazi Germa ...
, the street became part of Hamburg. In 1944, the German movie ''
Große Freiheit Nr. 7'' with
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers (22 September 1891 – 24 July 1960) was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.
Early life
...
was named after the road.
In the 1960s,
The Beatles played here, e.g. in Große Freiheit 36 (
Kaiserkeller
Kaiserkeller is a music club in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg, Germany, near the Reeperbahn. It was opened by Bruno Koschmider on 14 October 1959. The Beatles had a contract with Kaiserkeller to play there in 1960.
History
A Caribbean steel ...
), Große Freiheit 64 (today Indra-Musikclub), and in Große Freiheit 39 (the
Star-Club
The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...
, 1962–1969). The street still hosts music clubs like ''
Große Freiheit 36
Große Freiheit 36 is a music club on Große Freiheit street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district. The Kaiserkeller is in its basement.
History
Already in the 1940s, the address was home to the "Hippodrom", a club that had been made famous in the fi ...
'' and ''
Grünspan
Grünspan or Gruenspan is a Yiddish surname (from the German word meaning ''green swarf'', verdigris) spelled Grynszpan in Polish, in English speaking countries anglicized to Greenspan. It may refer to, alphabetically:
* Herschel Grünspan (19 ...
''.
In the 1970s, several sex theatres (''Salambo'', ''Regina'', ''Colibri'', ''Safari'') showed live
sex acts on stage. , until its closure in 2013, the ''Safari'' was the only live sex theatre left in Germany. The popular
table dance
A table dance, or bartop dance, is a dance performed at (or on) a table or bar, as opposed to on a stage. It may be an erotic dance performed by a sex worker or it may be done as a leisure activity.
Sex work
In some jurisdictions, a table dance m ...
club ''Dollhouse'' now takes the place of the ''Salambo''.
In 1975, the German rock band
Randy Pie
Randy Pie was a moderately successful German rock / funk band based in Hamburg, which was active between 1972 and 1977, and briefly in 1986. Formed by Dicky Tarrach, and mostly originating as ex-members of the pop group The Rattles they started ...
used two views of Grosse Freiheit for their album ''Kitsch'': the front cover is a picture of the street at night, while the back cover is the same view but at day time.
In 2008, the
Beatles-Platz
The Beatles-Platz (german: Beatles Square/Plaza) is a plaza in the St. Pauli quarter in Hamburg, Germany, at the crossroads of Reeperbahn and Große Freiheit. It is circular, with a diameter of and paved black to make it look like a vinyl recor ...
square was built. In the same year, Hamburg's oldest brothel, the
Hotel Luxor
The Hotel Luxor, also known as the Mehrer Hotel was the oldest brothel in Hamburg until its closure in April 2008. It was located on Große Freiheit in St. Pauli red-light district and first opened in 1948.
History
The Luxor was first opened in ...
, which had operated on the street for 60 years, closed.
There is only one hotel on the street, the
St. Joseph Hotel Hamburg
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...
, which opened 2005 and named after the church of the same name, St. Joseph.
Sights
Image:Große_freiheit_rockclub.jpg, Music club "Große Freiheit 36"
Image:Grenzgang Gr.Freiheit.jpg, Houses at the "Grenzgang" of Altona, between Große Freiheit and Talstraße
Image:St. Joseph Kirche.jpg, St. Joseph Church on Große Freiheit
In popular culture
The popular 1944 movie ''
Große Freiheit Nr. 7'' tells the story of a singer (played by
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers (22 September 1891 – 24 July 1960) was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.
Early life
...
) who works in a Reeperbahn club and falls in love with a girl played by
Ilse Werner
Ilse Werner (; born Ilse Charlotte Still, 11 July 1921 – 8 August 2005) was a Dutch-German actress, singer, and musical whistler.
Life
She was born in Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia) to a Dutch father, merchant and plantation owner, ...
.
''
Kleine Freiheit
''Kleine Freiheit'' (international title: ''A Little Bit of Freedom'') is a 2003 film by Kurdish director Yüksel Yavuz about the friendship (and later relationship) between two teenage boys who are illegal immigrants in Germany.
Plot
Baran ( C ...
'' (international title: A Little Bit of Freedom) is a 2003 film by Kurdish director Yüksel Yavuz about the friendship (and later relationship) between two teenage boys who are illegal immigrants in Germany, is set on the street and the title is a play on words about the street.
[Gozde Naiboglu ]
Literature
* Uwe Heimowski: ''Brunos Dankeschön - Geschichten von der Reeperbahn,'' Neufeld Verlag, Schwarzenfeld 2005,
References
External links
*
*
Images from the road, Grosse Freiheit
City of Hamburg about Reeperbahn
History Reeperbahn
''Beatles Hamburg 1966'' on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosse Freiheit
Red-light districts in Germany
Streets in Hamburg
Prostitution in Germany