Röpergasse

The lane, mentioned since 1357 as "platea funificum sive Reperstrate" (Ropemakers' Lane or Reper Street), initially appears to have included the Ankerschmiedegasse (Anchor Smiths' Lane) as well. At any rate, in 1357 a number of anchor smiths are listed as residents, while the Ankerschmiedegasse itself is not yet mentioned by name.

The name derives from the guild of the Reper or Reifschläger -- the ropemakers who produced the heavy cables for ships. They owned the Röperscheunen (rope sheds) and Röperbahnen (ropewalks), those long, narrow workplaces where ropes were twisted, which are mentioned as early as 1385 as one of the oldest parts of the Niederstadt (Lower City). Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn street bears the same etymological root.