Visit Hamburg: Best Things to Do, See & Experience

400 years of the Reeperbahn: Hamburg’s most famous street

Few streets in the world carry as much mythology as the Reeperbahn. It conjures images of neon-lit clubs, the Beatles and the restless energy of a port city that never sleeps. In 2026, its story from ropemakers to rock ‘n’ roll is in the limelight. “The word Reeperbahn comes from the Low German Reep, meaning rope, and the craftsmen known as Reepschläger (rope makers) who gave the street its name,” explains historian and tour guide Eva Decker. “Producing ropes for Hamburg's merchant fleet required long, straight lanes hundreds of metres in length, along which craftsmen walked backwards twisting fibres by hand.” By the early 17th century, Hamburg was expanding its defensive fortifications and…