On April 25th in Hamburg, at the age of 70, Klaus Barkowski, also known as "Beautiful Klaus," the world's most famous pimp, died, recently popularized by the Amazon Prime series "Luden." Barkowski was one of the central figures of the Nutella Gang, which in the late 70s and 80s displaced the pimp gang GMBH from St. Pauli and shaped the current form of the Reeperbahn and the entire sex industry in St. Pauli.
Barkowski considered himself an artist and was a co-founder of the artistic group EWIG (ETERNAL), which organized, among other things, benefits for the homeless. Reports on the death of the pimp-artist are conflicting. The media report suicide, while one of his friends on Facebook mentioned a death after a long illness. From the information that I was able to find, it is likely that Barkowski had been seriously ill for some time, and after another hospitalization, he decided to leave the industry for good by jumping off the balcony of his apartment.
For years he had also abused alcohol and drugs, which ruined him both physically and financially. This raises a question of evaluation. Because pimps, gangs, criminals, violence... and it's not about the fact that the young lions of Nutella were less prone to violence (also towards prostitutes) but especially Barkowski was known for it. But I cannot help but refer to Brecht's "what is robbing a bank compared to founding one," what dear path does a boy from a poor neighborhood have, not even a career but a better life?
And this neighborhood is a story that repeats itself multiple times in the 20th century; I have seen a similar process in the Warsaw Praga district. It is a vile, cheap district. So immigrants, poor artists, various outcasts, and criminals are drawn there... and in such a mixture, jazz was born, and rock'n'roll was born in such a mixture. It is no coincidence that the European cradle of rock'n'roll is a port city. After weeks and months at sea, passengers and sailors are thirsty for entertainment. What primarily? Drinking and having sex! And music fits well with both of these activities. Jazz and rock'n'roll are fundamentally, even vulgarly bodily and sexual. And, of course, there is also food in all of this. Today, it is less so, but when rock'n'roll or jazz was born, after so many days at sea, good fresh food was also one of the basic bodily pleasures that everyone longed for.
Today, St. Pauli is a hub of vegetarian restaurants, punk and Oi! clubs, and of course, brothels and sex shops. Like a prostitute, a chef sells people sensory pleasure that they cannot provide themselves. The best become Barkowskis.
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