South of the Reeperbahn stands the star of many a German crime film and TV show, the Davidwache. This brick police station, festooned with ornate ceramic tiles, is the base for 150 officers, who keep the lurid surrounds reasonably tame. Its presence here is a reminder that while St Pauli loves to thumb its nose at authority, it needs that authority to define itself…
Davidwache
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.16 MILES
St Nikolai church was the world’s tallest building from 1874 to 1876, and it remains Hamburg’s second-tallest structure (after the TV tower). Mostly…
0.43 MILES
Here's the perfect excuse to stay up all Saturday night. Every Sunday in the wee hours, some 70,000 locals and visitors descend upon the famous Fischmarkt…
1.05 MILES
Welcome to one of the most Europe's most exciting recent architectural creations. A squat brown-brick former warehouse at the far west of HafenCity was…
1.68 MILES
A treasure trove of art from the Renaissance to the present day, the Kunsthalle spans two buildings linked by an underground passage. The main building…
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1.22 MILES
With its spectacular coffered ceiling, Hamburg’s baroque Rathaus is one of Europe’s most opulent, and is renowned for its Emperor’s Hall and Great Hall…
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27.66 MILES
The medieval Rathaus has a spectacular baroque facade, added in 1720 and decorated with coats of arms and three tiers of statues. The top row represents …
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0.65 MILES
‘Der Michel’, as it is affectionately called, is one of Hamburg’s most recognisable landmarks and northern Germany’s largest Protestant baroque church…
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27.88 MILES
The cobbled, slightly wobbly street and square Am Sande is full of red-brick buildings with typically Hanseatic stepped gables. Even among these striking…
Nearby St Pauli & Reeperbahn attractions
0.05 MILES
To make historical sense of St Pauli, this museum is an excellent place to start. It takes you back to the earliest days of the neighbourhood, brings to…
0.11 MILES
Along Davidstrasse, a painted tin wall bars views into Herbertstrasse, a block-long bordello that’s off-limits to men under 18 and to women of all ages…
0.13 MILES
Wednesday late afternoon and evening is a terrific time to be in St Pauli when the weekly night market takes over Spielbudenplatz with food stalls, live…
0.15 MILES
If wax museums are your thing, Hamburg has a decent version with more than 120 figures spread over four floors. Everyone gets a run, from Queen Elizabeth…
0.23 MILES
Designed like a vinyl record, it has abstract steel sculptures resembling cookie cutters of the Fab Four (including a hybrid of Ringo Starr and Pete Best).
0.24 MILES
Watching over the eastern gateway to St Pauli since 2011, the 'Dancing Towers' are a Hamburg icon. The two towers buck and weave by up to 3m from the…
0.25 MILES
The seminal venue for the Beatles opened in 1962. It has since burnt down and there is a sad historical marker. Thai karaoke now echoes off the walls.
0.31 MILES
Hamburg's maritime tableau spreads out before this park created by local residents and overlooking the Elbe. Pick up some beer and have your own sunset…