Stumbling Kerb Herbertstraße

This brass plaque in the kerb commemorates the sex workers from St. Pauli who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. The memorial plaque, modelled on the well-known Stolpersteine, bears the inscription:

'Dispossessed, Excluded, Murdered,
1933 to 1945,
In memory of the women of Herbertstraße and elsewhere'

Background:

Since its construction in the 19th century, the approximately 60-metre-long Herbertstraße has become one of Germany's most famous street prostitution areas. The large steel panels at the entrances to the street are a popular photo motif among tourists. However, almost no one knows that they were installed by the National Socialists in 1933. Prostitution and striptease were strictly prohibited under National Socialism, and sex workers were persecuted by the Nazis as ‘female anti-social elements’. In St. Pauli, however, it proved impossible to enforce this ban. Therefore, these gates were placed in front of Herbertstraße so that passers-by could not see what was officially prohibited.

For the sex workers, however, this did not mean safety. Many of them (not only from Hamburg) were interned for their activities, died in concentration camps or were forcibly sterilised.

A QR code on the plaque leads to the website with more information: https://kulturerbesanktpauli.net/

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Jeroen
• - https://kulturerbesanktpauli.net/