THE RED ZONE

In 1963 the company I worked for, exposed at the The Nuremberg Toy Fair  (Spielwarenmesse). All the top brands as well as start-ups and large chains, make the Nuremberg Toy Fair the most important meeting place for the toy industry. I was there to translate from German into French. After a long day of work my Boss and another colleague decided to visit this zone. I have no idea if it is still there, but at this time it was in a special area and only men where allowed to drive or walk along the streets, where the girls were standing or sitting behind red velvet curtains.

The problem was me because women were not allowed. So they looked at me hoping I would say "take me to the hotel" but I was far too curious and wanted to come with them. After careful consideration they finally decided to hide me on the back seat of the car. The only thing I had to do was kneeling between the seats so that nobody could see me from outside, but I could look through the window.

No sooner said than done. I climbed in the car and they drove direction red zone. It was located in a very old and a little dirty looking area and suddenly we arrived at a wall which is called Frauentormauer (women wall gate). Here they told me that I had to hide now. Which I did. Peeping through the window I saw a line of houses with red neon signs which praised all kind of propositions and had funny names. I watched the "red zone" ladies, dressed or more undressed in narrow outfits, high healed and with decolltétes almost until the bellybutton. All hair colors and hair styles were represented and from skinny minnies to oversized elephants everything was available. Sometimes they discussed with a man and then disappeared behind the door of a house. What an awful profession, I thought, accepting all these man to earn money for living. The fats, balds, hairy, very young to very old, they all were represented.

As we drove very slowly so that we could see the most, suddenly a tall curly haired blond with a red mini dress knocked at the window. My boss opened it and she put her head inside to offer her services and discuss the price. While I had a wonderful view on two pink mountains I listened to the conversation with great attention. I had shrunk myself to the size of a little mouse. I don't remember the price or anything else of the discussion and  they hardly could accept the kind proposition, because I was in the way, but anyway they just wanted to have a look. They were both married, but this fact was sometimes forgotten.

When we had enough of our sightseeing, we drove to the city center and continued to celebrate our business success. This was the first time I have seen a red zone in my life.


Me at the toy fair

Today I realize that I was probably the only 20 year old girl at that time, who had such an experience.



It still exists today, I found this picture on Internet. In Germany prostitution is legal and considered as a free profession just like a dentist or a lawyer. They also have to pay income taxes and have to undergo a regularly a health check up.

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