Reeperbahn - Ropewalk
A ropewalk/Reeperbahn is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. The rope maker first stretched a number of individual strands along the length of the rope walk and later twisted or plaited these strands into thicker ropes. The standard rope of the British Navy, the British Naval Rope, was one cable length long (180–220 metres). Until the introduction of steam engines in 1836, over 200 men were required at the British Chatham Dockyard to produce a ship’s rope with a circumference of 20 inches.
"The Ropewalk in Edam" by Max Liebermann, 1904
As the finished ropes usually had a considerable length, generally around 200 metres, the Reeperbahnen/ ropewalks were up to 400 metres long. When they were no longer needed, the tracks were often converted into roads, so that today there are streets named Reeperbahn in several places in Germany. The Reeperbahn in Hamburg’s St. Pauli red light district is world-famous. But there are also Cable streets like the one in London or the RopeWalks district in Liverpool.
So if you ever come across a very long road like that, or one with a similar-sounding name, it’s quite likely that there is a rope/ cable history behind it.
