The Reference Council

FC St. Pauli

“Hafenstrasse” demonstration with the infamous “Black Block” and police.

Towards the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, with most of the port work having been replaced by machines, sailors essentially stopped coming into St.Pauli, unemployment was strive and the mood tipped into anarchy. Modern, violent Anarchism commonly referred to as the “Black Block” throughout the world today, was born here when parts of St.Pauli were squatted, mainly in the Hafenstrasse, by groups of anti-authoritarians. A decade of violent street battles ensued with the police and large parts of the neighbourhood were considered “lost” and “no go” zones, even by liberal parents like mine who told me growing up as a teenager that I had absolutely no business there. The red light district turned into a tourist attraction and the pimps became millionaires and media stars, organized themselves and subsequently turned St.Pauli into a seemingly lawless part of the city. That is still the case today, even though it is not as public as it used to be.

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