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"On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight" (German:"") is a 1912 German song by
Ralph Arthur Roberts, originally written for a musical
revue. The song refers to the
Reeperbahn, the
red light district of the port city of
Hamburg. The song's popularity received a major boost when it was used in the 1944 film ''
Große Freiheit Nr. 7
''Große Freiheit Nr. 7'' (English: ''Great Freedom No. 7'') is a 1944 German musical drama film directed by Helmut Käutner. It was named after Große Freiheit (grand freedom), a street next to Hamburg's Reeperbahn road in the St. Pauli red lig ...
'', sung by the star
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
...
.
Overview
Three films have taken their title from the song, including ''
On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight'' (1954), a film starring Albers which attempted to repeat the success of his earlier hit.
[Hake p. 228] The tune was used for
Billy Wilder's ''
Witness for the Prosecution
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' (1957), sung by
Marlene Dietrich with new English lyrics as "I May Never Go Home Anymore".
The song is popular with fans of the Hamburg
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club
St. Pauli. The song has been parodied numerous times including
Mike Krüger
Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (born 14 December 1951 in Ulm) is a German comedian, actor and singer.
Filmography
* ''Piratensender Powerplay'' (1981)
* '' Die Supernasen'' (1983)
* ''Zwei Nasen tanken Super'' (1984)
* '' Seitenstechen'' (1 ...
's ''On the Autobahn at Half Past Midnight'' (Auf der Autobahn nachts um halb eins).
See also
*
List of songs about Hamburg
This list of songs about Hamburg is about songs dedicated to or involving the city, state and port of Hamburg, Germany.
Traditionally, Hamburg has been associated with a number of sea shanties, and Low German folk music and Schlager, added by Ha ...
References
Bibliography
* Hake, Sabine. ''Popular Cinema of the Third Reich''. University of Texas Press, 2001.
* Phillips, Gene D. ''Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder''. University Press of Kentucky, 2010
German songs
1912 songs
Songs from musicals
Culture in Hamburg
Songs about cities
Songs about Germany
Songs about streets
Songs about prostitutes
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