Kiez myth focuses: St. Pauli between cliché and truth!

Kiez myth focuses: St. Pauli between cliché and truth!

In Hamburg, the representation of the red light milieus in media formats such as "Luden" and "Reeperbahn special unit FD 65" ensures heated discussions. These series use historical clichés, which often convey a distorted image of reality. While the stories of pimples and organized crimes on the Reeperbahn are celebrated in the media, some, including historian Eva Decker, criticize that the life realities of sex workers are systematically ignored. "By giving the criminal stories of these men so much space, they get something heroic," said Decker. This is misleading, since the ascents of the male protagonists were mostly based on the social and financial relegation of women, which are often represented in this system as victims.

media and their responsibility

Joan Bleicher, professor of media science, finds that the current success of these formats is closely related to the interest in true crime stories. In particular, the Reeperbahn, as a historical center for crime, is considered with a wealth of image material that offers itself for such formats. Critics emphasize that these series and documentaries draw a distorting form of the neighborhood, which does not cover the complex reality. Waldemar Paulsen, former crime commissioner, also draws a clear line against the glorifying representation and criticizes that there were no "golden times" in the red light environment. "The good old red light is a distorted image," says Paulsen, who also describes how dangerous life in these circles was.

The heated debate about the media representation of the red light milieus in Hamburg illustrates how important it is to put the diverse and often combative voices of those affected in the foreground - a responsibility that should take both creative and consumers seriously. The discourse on these topics, the integration of a broader perspective, in particular that of women to authentically reflect the reality of the neighborhood.

Welt reported extensively about the controversy around the presentation of the red light milieus in the media landscape and Spiegel.de discussed the medial work on historical crime on the Reeperbahn .