To make people feel safer and more at ease on the Reeperbahn after dark, Clubkombinat Hamburg has rolled out a comprehensive slate of measures in its project “WTF – What the Fear.” They argue that there is a need for awareness teams in public spaces, visible, supported help points for those affected, as well as education, empowerment and prevention. They also emphasize better infrastructure, such as lighting and accessible routes, and stronger involvement of residents, businesses and the nightlife.
The overall takeaway from the responses is clear: “Safety is not created by control alone but through cultural transformation, solidarity and shared responsibility.” The “WTF — What the Fear” project ran from June to September 2025 with a variety of participatory elements in public spaces on St. Pauli. At its core, it aimed to make assaults and the fears around them visible, raise awareness and empower those affected.
The linchpin of the effort was a glass-front container at Spielbudenplatz and a 90-meter long construction-fence facade. According to organizers, 183 conversations took place in the container. One finding: there is a need for low-threshold contact points away from the police. And “sensitive experiences require protected spaces, professional first-response support and reliable structures.”
There was also a digital reporting channel that logged 58 reports. About 40 percent of the reports involved sexually transgressive boundary-crossing, 32 percent involved sexualized physical violence. More than 70 percent of participants were female, about 23 percent identified as diverse. The perpetrators were described almost exclusively as male and unknown.
The Clubkombinat took on the subject because the call for safety should not end at the club door. “We have 930 meters of nightlife. Every weekend, on average 50,000 people. That makes us an internationally known nightlife district,” the Clubkombinat explained at the start of the project. Those championing live and club culture need to plan the public spaces accordingly.
