Unspecified/General

On the Reeperbahn fringe in St. Pauli, Hamburg's famous red-light and nightlife quarter, the Erotic Art Museum has long offered a more cultured take on the district's reputation, presenting erotic art as a serious artistic theme rather than mere titillation. The original museum opened on 11 November 1992 at Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse 69, founded by Claus Becker with the backing of the city's cultural authorities and launched under the slogan that sex is not so bad, a deliberate attempt to bring an age-old subject of art out from behind locked doors and into public view. At its height it claimed to hold the world's largest publicly accessible collection of erotic art, more than a thousand works spanning many centuries and including pieces attributed to artists such as Picasso, George Grosz, Otto Dix, Keith Haring and the illustrator Tomi Ungerer, alongside changing special exhibitions of painting, drawing, comic art and photography. After moving to nearby Nobistor in 1997 and back again in 2002, the original museum closed in 2007 amid legal and financial disputes over the building and the fate of its collection. The name and tradition live on, however: the venture was revived in the same St. Pauli street, and a museum of erotic art again operates here, focusing on local and international work with a strong connection to the artists of St. Pauli itself, including the humorous, idiosyncratic collages of the Hamburg artist Friedrich Frahm that capture the colour of the neighbourhood. Today the exhibition leans towards rotating shows of paintings, drawings, prints and objects exploring eros in its many forms, in a compact space financed in part through its shop. Set among the bars, theatres and clubs of the Reeperbahn and close to the harbour and the Elbe, it makes an offbeat cultural stop in one of Germany's most colourful districts. Visitors should check current opening details before arriving, as the venue has changed hands and location more than once over the years. Because the venue has relocated and changed hands several times, opening hours and even the precise address are best confirmed online before setting out. Set among the theatres, bars and clubs of the Reeperbahn and a short walk from the harbour piers, it suits curious adult visitors looking for an offbeat cultural stop in St. Pauli.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse 79, Hamburg, Germany

Telephone: +49 40 60866879

Website: https://www.erotic-art-museum.com

Opening Date: 11/11/1992