 | |
|---|---|
 Helenenstraße in 2014 | |
| Former name(s) | Frankenstraße |
| Location | Stone Gate district, Bremen, Germany |
| Coordinates | 53°04′20″N8°49′35″E / 53.072222°N 8.826389°E |
| From | Vor dem Steintor |
| Other | |
| Known for | Prostitution |
The Helenenstraße is a street in the Steintor locality in the eastern suburbs of Bremen, Germany. The street was built in the 19th century and is known for prostitution.
The building contractor Carl Philip Weiland erected the buildings of today's Helenenstraße, which he originally planned as a connecting street between Vor dem Steintor and Auf der Kuhlen. A widow, Helene Engelken, denied him the sale of her land preventing the street joining Auf der Kuhlen, so the street became a cul-de-sac off of Vor dem Steintor. It is the only real dead-end in this part of Bremen. The building contractor named the street from the widow's first name. The Helenenstraße was built in a Wilhelminian style, which is also seen in other Bremen houses of the era. [1]
Shortly after the construction, the street was designated as a street of prostitution by a decree of the Bremen Senate in 1878. Under the decree, prostitution would only be permitted in Bremen in the form of a “controlled and regulated prostitution” in Helenenstraße. [2] [3] [4] The prostitutes were registered and a police station was set up at the entrance to the street to avoid pimping. The main purpose of the decree was to prevent the spread of venereal diseases in Bremen. Strict importance was attached to the use of condoms and medical supervision. The buildings were equipped with toilets and there was a bath room. Under the "female controls" police ordinance, prostitutes were prohibited from speaking to men or attracting them outside the street; they were not allowed to visit theatres or museums, to keep dogs or cats and not even to enter the parks on Wallgraben or the Bürgerpark. [1] The prostitutes were also not permitted to leave their houses after dark, travel in open carriages or public vehicles, live with a man, dine with each other or socialise outside the street. [5] [6] Despite the strict regulations, there were protests against the establishment of Helenenstraße; as early as 1879, a petition with 2,200 signatures against this facility was submitted, but this did not lead to any change. [1]
Helenenstraße was the first controlled street of prostitution in the then German Reich. The Senate and State Councillors of Bremen were proud of this unique facility. The Senate even made a wooden model of Helenenstraße and presented it at international health fairs in Paris, New York and Moscow. [1]
In the spring of 1926, 50 prostitutes petitioned the Bremen Senate for more protection in the Helenenstraße which was opposed by the Bremen women's movement. [7] Under pressure from the women's movement, communist and social democratic deputies, [1] the Senate prohibited prostitution in the street in October that year. [7] Helenenstraße was renamed Frankenstrasse. Since many of the prostitutes on Helenenstraße had become owners of the houses, prostitution was now continued illegally in the street. Under the rule of the National Socialists, prostitution in Helenenstraße was again permitted in 1934 [8] and the street's name changed back to Helenenstraße in 1936. During the Second World War the street suffered considerable bomb damage by British air raids. In contrast to the rest of the city, the bomb damage is still evident in the street, although one side of the street was rebuilt after the war. [1]
Around a hundred women worked in Helenenstraße at its peak, but had fallen to only about half the number by 2002. [1] Some of the premises were empty, and were rented out as homes for single men. [9] With the expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2007, many Eastern European prostitutes came to Germany, including to Bremen. By 2011 most of the prostitutes in Helenenstraße were from Bulgaria and Romania. [10]
There have been several proposals to redevelop the Helenenstraße since the beginning of the 21st century. The Advisory Board of the Eastern Suburb has opposed converting the red-light district. In the view of the Advisory Board, to open up the street would cause prostitution to move onto the streets and private homes. This would make police surveillance more difficult and promote human trafficking and pimping. [1] [10]
In 2019 the entrance to the street was revamped. The original wall across the end was demolished [11] and the wooden gates [9] removed. A new metal privacy screen was erected and a urinal and cycle racks provided. [12]
Bremen, officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called Land Bremen, although the term is sometimes used in official contexts. The state consists of the city of Bremen and its seaport exclave, Bremerhaven, surrounded by the larger state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany.
Prostitution in Germany is legal, as are other aspects of the sex industry, including brothels, advertisement, and job offers through HR companies. Full-service sex work is widespread and regulated by the German government, which levies taxes on it. In 2016, the government adopted a new law, the Prostitutes Protection Act, in an effort to improve the legal situation of sex workers, while also now enacting a legal requirement for registration of prostitution activity and banning prostitution which involves no use of condoms. The social stigmatization of sex work persists and many workers continue to lead a double life. Human rights organizations consider the resulting common exploitation of women from East Germany to be the main problem associated with the profession.
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Prostitution in Italy, defined as the exchange of sexual acts for money, is legal, although organized prostitution, whether indoors in brothels or controlled by third parties, is prohibited. Brothels were banned in 1958. A euphemism often used to refer to street prostitutes in Italy is Lucciole, while escorts are referred to as Squillo.
Prostitution in Switzerland is legal and regulated; it has been legal since 1942. Trafficking, forcing people into prostitution and most forms of pimping are illegal. Licensed brothels, typically with a reception and leading to several studio apartments, are available. One estimate puts the number of street sex workers in Zurich at 5000.
The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country.
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The Prostitutes Protection Act (Prostituiertenschutzgesetz) is a German Federal Law that was enacted on 21 October 2016 and came into force on 1 July 2017. Core elements are the introduction of a permit requirement for all prostitution trades and a registration certificate for prostitutes. The intent of the law was to better protect prostitutes and fight crime. Interest groups criticized the law, which they claim penalizes and endangers prostitutes and a constitutional complaint was filed in June 2017.
The German: Reitwallstraße is a street in Hanover, Germany. Situated near the pedestrianised Stone Gate Square, it is part of the red-light district bounded by Reuterstraße, Goethestraße, Reitwallstraße and Am Marstall and is crossed by Scholvinstraße. The street is known for prostitution and strip clubs.
The Linienstraße is a street in Dortmund, Germany, known for prostitution. The street is located north of the city's main railway station Dortmund Hauptbahnhof in the Stadtbezirk Innenstadt-Nord district. There have been brothels on Linienstraße since the beginning of the 20th century. Under the "Sperrbezirk" regulations, prostitution in central Dortmund is only permitted in Linienstraße.
Die Küste was the former entertainment district at the Port of Bremen in Bremen, Germany. Die Küste evolved at the exit of the free port (Überseestadt) on the Nordstraße. It was linked to the Walle district by a foot tunnel, the Stinkbüdelmannsgang. The area was also known as the Küstenmeile and Klein-St. Pauli, drawing similarities to the Hamburg red-light district of St. Pauli. Today there are still a few bars still in existence dating from the days of Die Küste.
The Punkendeich was a dike (floodbank) between the river Weser and the city of Bremen that was known for prostitution. It ran from the city wall (Altenwall) to Sielwall. Originally called the Sieldeich, the Punkendeich was incorporated into the larger Osterdeich in 1850. A road and houses were built along the top of the dike, the road later becoming part of the Osterdeich trunk road.
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