Of Pianos and Prostitutes - by Nate Howard

Of Pianos and Prostitutes – The Steinway-Fabrik and Downtown Hamburg

by Nate Howard

On Tuesday the 22^nd of June, not long after we had become acquainted with our host families in Bargteheide, we took a day long trip into Hamburg to tour the Steinway piano factory and, afterwards, downtown Hamburg. After a comfortable ride into the city and a comparatively harrowing experience riding in the far-too-overcrowded city bus that would transport us to the Steinway factory, we arrived at our destination. Many of our host students traveled with us, thankful to have an excuse not to go to school. Upon arriving at the factory, we were allowed into the showroom and quickly dispersed as everybody ran to occupy one of the many pianos in the room. Needless to say, the entire showroom was quickly filled with the slightly discordant sounds of those who knew how to play and those who were trying their best. After five or ten symphonic minutes the group was herded out of the showroom and into the factory. The tour of the factory was interesting, filled with loud machinery, half finished pianos, and the asphyxiating scent of varnish, but after nearly two hours of touring the students were ready to head out. Back in the showroom we were presented with beverages to replenish our dwindling energy, and shortly moved on to the second part of our excursion.

What we experienced next couldn’t have been more different from our privileged, civilized tour of the Steinway factory. Traveling into central Hamburg, the students split up into groups and went off to see different parts of the city. I happened to travel with my group to the Reeperbahn, more affectionately known as Hamburg’s red light district. What at first was shock at the seediness of the area quickly turned into humor at the comical nature of it all. The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district lined with various “entertainment clubs” and erotica shops, and whose sidewalks come alive with women of the night after sunset (or, sometimes, before dinner). After walking around the Reeperbahn, viewing various places where the fledgling Beatles played, commenting on the ironic location of an old church, and generally scoffing at the sexual environment, we traveled back to the train station and headed home to take a rest. It was, all in all, a very interesting, while somewhat morally lopsided, day.