It all started in 1960:no Beatles without Hamburg

On August 17, 1960, the Beatles performed on a Hamburg stage for the first time. The concert in the Indra is not a success - nevertheless, the people of Liverpool are developing into world stars in the rough neighborhood.

by Heiko Block, NDR.de

Music history is written in Hamburg on this day:John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best made their first appearance on August 17, 1960 at the Indra in Hamburg-St. Pauli. It is her first official engagement as The Beatles. For the first time they earn money with their music. However, the first performance is not a success:the number of guests is limited, the band's repertoire is limited. They don't have their own songs yet. They play rock 'n' roll songs from the 1950s - that's what they're booked for. Nevertheless:On this evening 60 years ago, the foundation stone for their world career was laid, because the Beatles matured in Hamburg.

"There was a real need in St. Pauli"

"Back then there weren't any decent rock 'n' roll bands in Hamburg," says musician Stefanie Hempel, who has been offering Beatles tours in Hamburg since 2004. "But there was a real need in St. Pauli in 1960. That had to do with the port, the sailors - it was international. Many came from Scandinavia or from the USA - and they wanted to hear their music here. There was a big rocker Scene in Hamburg, especially in St. Pauli - they also wanted to hear rock 'n' roll. There were already jukeboxes - for example in the Kaiserkeller. That's why people went there." And then Bruno Koschmider, owner of Kaiserkeller and Indra, had the idea of ​​bringing rock 'n' roll to the neighborhood.

Everyone wanted real rock 'n' roll - but where to get it?

Koschmider first tried it with German musicians. "But the people in the Kaiserkeller found Peter Kraus and Ted Herold terrible at the time. They wanted real rock 'n' roll," says Hempel. But where should you get bands from? The USA was too far away - the shortest way was England. First up was Tony Sheridan with the Jets from London, a few months before the Beatles. Then the club owner wanted new bands. So he went to London to find similar musicians.

Only fourth choice:"Please don't bring the Beatles to Hamburg!"

At 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, he happened to meet Allan Williams from Liverpool, who had booked various bands and gotten them engagements. "Williams said to Koschmider:'Look no further, you can get my bands - for a better price.' The Liverpool bands were cheaper, for them it was the first opportunity to make money at the time, because there was no rock 'n' roll scene in Liverpool," says Beatles expert Hempel. "The Cavern Club, for example, didn't start rock 'n' roll until 1961." The bands were grateful to be able to play regularly somewhere because there were hardly any opportunities to perform.

First Derry and the Seniors came from Liverpool to Hamburg - and then the Beatles. As a band of fourth choice. "It's also such a crazy story:The Beatles were booked as an emergency solution just because three other Liverpool bands couldn't," reveals the 43-year-old Hempel. "Saxophonist Howie Casey from Derry and the Seniors said to Williams at the time:'We're doing well in Hamburg, please don't send the Beatles. This bad band will spoil our reputation.'"

But the Beatles, who previously only had "small gigs for a beer" or appearances at private parties in Liverpool in various constellations - they came anyway.

Contract only correctly understood after arrival in St. Pauli

The Beatles reached Hamburg on the night of August 17, 1960. Their first performance was in the evening - on a Wednesday. It was difficult at first because the Beatles didn't even know they were going to be playing all evening and late into the night. "They only really understood the contract shortly after their arrival in Hamburg," says Hempel. "They only knew the curfew in England, when almost everything closes at 11 p.m. They had hardly any live experience at the time and only had a program for about one to one and a half hours. John Lennon later said that they had to stretch out every song."

"Black hole" in cinema storage room first quarters

After the contract, accommodation was the next shock. Koschmider also owned the Bambi cinema. That's where the boys first found shelter. Two tiny, damp, windowless storage rooms in the cinema functioned as the Beatles' first sleeping quarters, which they themselves only called the "black hole". Under Koschmider, the Beatles had to play four and a half hours a weekday evening, and even six hours on weekends - that's what the contract said. They had one day off a week - every Monday.

Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly songs on the first night

It is not known with which song they opened the first concert evening. "But you know pretty well what kind of program they had back then. They played a lot of pieces by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Carl Perkins. And Buddy Holly too, they could do these three-part chords nicely," explains Hempel. "Howie Casey came to Indra the first night and saw if the Beatles were still bad. They had gotten a little bit better than he remembered. They weren't a good band in his eyes - but what really struck him was that they were the voices."

"They were still looking for chords"

The Beatles were very inexperienced that first night. "They didn't know how to do a performance and stood there relatively stiffly. You can imagine that, because they didn't have a lot of program. They were still looking for chords and looked at their fingers," says Hempel. The number of visitors was manageable - but a few people came over from the Kaiserkeller "to see what the new English people are like".

Indra was to become the new Kaiserkeller with the Beatles

In those days, Indra was still on the dark side of Great Freedom, there were no street lights there, so things didn't go so well. "It was a mixture of cabaret, strip and live club. It often went on until the last drunk sailor had left the club. Koschmider wanted to upgrade the place with live music, the Beatles were supposed to turn the Indra into the new Kaiserkeller, the went much better," says the musician.

"Have a look!":Hard pressure on the neighborhood

In the years that followed, the Liverpool boys were encouraged by club owner Koschmider to heat up the crowd in St. Pauli - because the competition in the neighborhood was fierce. "The pressure was hard," Paul McCartney once recalled. "'Look, look,' the manager would say. People would look at the beer prices in the store. Our job was to put on a show so that they would come in and stayed. So we made a show." The club was often empty. According to McCartney, the Beatles then waited for someone to come in and then played songs like Gene Vincent's "Dance In The Street."

From Indra to the Kaiserkeller

By performing almost every night, the band quickly got better. The Beatles' show also evolved, they sang together and took turns to keep their voices going. And after 41 performances at the Indra, Koschmider dared to bring them to the Kaiserkeller - even after there had been complaints about noise pollution at the Indra. "That's why they went over to the Kaiserkeller with the same commitment, also because they were now good and had their own audience - and above all had learned what Koschmider wanted from them," says Hempel. "This 'Do look!' has become a household name in Beatles history." They then played 50 nights in the Kaiserkeller.

Friendship with the artist clique:the mushroom head look is born

In addition, the style and image of the Beatles were largely developed and shaped in Hamburg. "Without Hamburg, no mushroom head," emphasizes expert Hempel. Art student and musician Klaus Voormann heard the energetic music on the street and headed down to the Kaiserkeller. He recognized the quality of the band and dragged more and more of his fellow students along. The Beatles quickly became friends with the "Exis", the artist clique around Voormann and the photographers Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer. The students were "the first to capture the beauty and spirit of The Beatles" (John Lennon). The people of Liverpool were not only inspired by the lifestyle of their Hamburg friends, they also adopted their look:the so-called mushroom head.

92 nights at the Top Ten - performance at the opening of the Star Club

The second engagement in Hamburg was in the Top Ten Club. "That was their best time back then. They played there 92 nights in a row - they didn't have a night off," emphasizes Hempel. After that they were engaged in the Star Club three times, including the opening on April 13, 1962. "It was important for the Hamburg scene and the Star Club that they played there. For many people in Hamburg, they were the best band. They were very popular back then because of their many appearances - including with Tony Sheridan in the Top Ten." The first Star Club engagement lasted from April to June.

Hamburg shapes the Beatles like no other city

Hamburg shaped the Beatles like no other city. "Mark Lewisohn, the most important Beatles author in the world, said 'No Hamburg, No Beatles' - so without Hamburg there would be no Beatles. That's perfectly clear to me, too," says Hempel. "Especially without the first engagement, without this opportunity to develop the way they did it here - musically, personally and in terms of the band cohesion - they wouldn't have existed for long. I'm sure of it." Without the performances in Hamburg they would have had much worse opportunities. "They became a professional live band here through the long nights. They met Ringo Starr here because he played with another band in the Kaiserkeller and they shared the commitment. The first joint appearance with Ringo was also in the Kaiserkeller. " When Pete Best was ill for a few days, Ringo Starr helped out.

Foundation for Hamburg's club culture and music scene

The importance of the Beatles for Hamburg is also great. "This whole club culture started here back then with bands like the Beatles or Tony Sheridan. St. Pauli had this unique music scene, which laid the foundation for Hamburg as pop music and rock 'n' roll in the 1960s city," says Hempel. "Hamburg was the pop capital of Germany for a long time - and that definitely has something to do with St. Pauli and the Beatles." Because the Beatles became so famous so quickly, even more bands from all over the world were drawn to Hamburg. The Star Club advertised as early as 1963 with the slogan "The cradle of the Beatles". As a result, Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy Osbourne, for example, came to Hamburg to play in the Star Club.

"Passion never ends"

For Stefanie Hempel, the Beatles now almost feel like family:"I can no longer imagine life without the Beatles. The Beatles made me a musician. I started writing songs when I was ten because I was totally in love was in John Lennon and wanted to express my love musically." Her favorite songs include "Here, There and Everywhere", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day In The Life", which moves her the most. "The music of the Beatles gives me a lot of power and energy. And this passion just doesn't stop."

1,200 hours on stages in Hamburg

A passion that visitors can experience on a tour with Hempel. For 16 years she has been telling visitors from all over the world that the Beatles have played nowhere in the world more often than in Hamburg. In the two years and four and a half months from August 1960 to December 1962 they were on the Hamburg stage for 1,200 hours - at 281 concerts and five engagements in four different clubs. From 1963 her world career began. They had their last appearance in the Hanseatic city on June 26, 1966, when they came back to Hamburg as superstars.

Lennon:"Growing up in Hamburg"

In the red-light district - among sailors, gangsters, rockers and prostitutes - the talented amateurs under tough conditions became musicians with world star potential. "They were washed with all waters through Hamburg when they then conquered the world," says Hempel. John Lennon once said:"We didn't grow up in Liverpool, we grew up in Hamburg."