A neighbourhood association has begun repainting walls along the famous Reeperbahn street, in the heart of the city's St Pauli nightlife district, with a water-repellent paint. 

 

The offending urine bounces straight off the wall – and on to the shoes of the perpetrator. 

 

Signs have been put up around the district that read "Don't pee here. We pee back." 

 

The menace of what is known as the Wildpinkler, or "wild urinator", is something of an obsession¹ in Germany. 

 

Penalties vary from city to city, but anyone relieving themselves on the streets of Munich risks a fine of €100 (£73), while in Cologne it is a hefty €200. 

 

But Hamburg's Reeperbahn, which attracts more than 20 million visitors a year, is just too crowded to police the Wildpinklers. 

 

Known as die sündigste Meile, or the most sinful mile, the Reeperbahn is both a red-light district and a centre for bars and nightlife, somewhat like London's Soho. 

 

The St Pauli neighbourhood association says the Wildpinklers have become such a serious problem that it had to act. 

 

"On the streets here, it's like being in a sewer," Julia Staron, a spokesman, told Spiegel magazine. 

 

The water-repellent paint the association is using to fight back is more often found on ships – and it is highly effective, accoding to Ms Staron. 

 

"The liquid rebounds² with almost the same force with which it hits," she said. 

 

The neighbourhood association has even produced a video entitled St Pauli Pinkelt Zurück, or "St Pauli Pees Back", which has already attracted more than 180,000 hits 

 

Would-be Wildpinklers should not think they can just go round the corner and relieve themselves against the next wall, she warned. 

 

"Not every wall has a sign," Ms Staron says with a grin in the video.

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