Pauli district of Hamburg , located near the Reeperbahn , which is the main red-light district. It is the only street in the city where it is still possible to find prostitutes in windows as in the famous De Wallen district of Amsterdam. This custom dates back to the reconstruction of the neighborhood after the fire of which was deliberately started by occupying French troops as a defensive measure.
The prostitutes nicknamed for their clothing Stiefelfrauen , or "women with boots" sit on stools in the windows, usually scantily dressed, to try to entice prospective clients to enter. They will sometimes talk to potential clients through an open window. Often the windows have red lighting and neon signs. After the area was rebuilt in the 19th century, it became an area where sailors from the nearby Elbe docks spent their wages in the pubs and strip bars of the neighborhood.
Licenses for prostitution were issued. Pauli lost their licenses. At the time of Nazi Germany , there was a ban on striptease and prostitution from Pauli trade could not be consistently enforced, [ 3 ] these activities were tolerated only in an alley - Herbertstrasse.
In the s, police added barriers and signs advising youths and women against entering: [ 5 ] [ 2 ] [ 7 ] [ 3 ] the former for reasons of protection against harmful influences, the latter because prostitutes would actively seek to chase away any women who entered, thus causing trouble. The signs are written in both English and German. The group said that the protest was against the sexual exploitation of women, trafficking and sexual violence , and the fact that the street is inaccessible to women.
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