Hamburg has found a clever way to deter revelers from urinating in public

Hamburg's St. Pauli district is fighting back against public urination
(Image credit: Reuters/YouTube)

The Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany — sometimes called "the most sinful mile in the world" — smells like a sewer after a night of club-hopping and drinking. A group of residents in the central St. Pauli district, which houses the Reeperbahn's strip clubs, bars, and brothels, are fighting back, using a high-tech water-repellant paint called Ultra-Ever Dry to deter the men who relieve themselves on the neighborhood's walls and buildings. When you pee on walls now, "St. Pauli pees back," explained a member of the IG St. Pauli group footing the bill for the paint. Watch the walls in action in Reuters' video below. —Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.