The Beatles played at the opening on April 13, 1962, and later also Jimi Hendrix:music history was written in Hamburg's Star Club. But in 1969 it was over again. On the 55th anniversary of the opening, NDR.de spoke to photographer Robert Günther in 2017, who experienced the intense time up close.
by Heiko Block, NDR.de
"Special moments in the Star Club? There were many. One was when Jimi Hendrix pushed me away with his guitar when I was standing next to him on stage," Robert Günther remembers. From 1966 he was a regular guest in the legendary live music club in the Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg's Kiez for more than three years and experienced a piece of music history as a photographer. "It was extraordinary back then. I was there several times a week, it was like a parallel life. My mother always asked me:'What are you doing there all night?' But I would do everything exactly the same way again," says Günther with a wink in an interview with NDR.de.
Star Club as a stepping stone - "Simply awesome"
"He was already unique - just awesome. There was nothing like that before. Today there are many alternatives - not then." All bands suddenly came to Hamburg. The club was a stepping stone for great careers. For example, singer Graham Bonney said:"Go to Hamburg, you'll become famous there."
The Beatles played at the opening
Robert Günther was a regular at the Star Club and photographed many stars such as Chris Farlowe (left).The Star Club, which opened on April 13, 1962, was one of the most important music clubs in the world for around seven years. Several bands played beats and rock 'n' roll seven days a week - until the early hours of the morning. The Beatles also played on the first night. It was only after their arrival in Hamburg that they found out that former band member Stuart Sutcliffe had died of a brain hemorrhage on April 10th. The "Fab Four" from Liverpool performed a total of 79 times by the end of 1962 on the Star Club stage and started their world career here. Legends like Jimi Hendrix, The Searchers, Tony Sheridan, Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, The Rattles, Cream, Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Manfred Mann also played in the Hamburg cult club.
Fascher has the idea - Weissleder the money
The idea for the Star Club came from Horst Fascher, who worked as a minder and bar man in the Kaiserkeller in the late 1950s, where a lot of live music was played back then. In the early 1960s, Fascher met Manfred Weißleder, the owner of a few pubs and striptease shops. He converted his star cinema into the star club. Weissleder had the money, Fascher the necessary contacts. "We started something back then that was simmering in our youth," says Fascher. "That's why the opening poster also said:'The need is over! The time for village music is over!' When we opened the store, there was a bang." Entry cost two to five marks. Almost 1,000 spectators fit into the hall, about one million per year. They wanted to see the musicians they only knew from the radio.
Special atmosphere and good vibes
A coveted souvenir:a ticket to the Star Club at Große Freiheit 39 in St.Pauli.Robert Günther describes the mood and atmosphere as special:"The club also had seats, but there was a lot of dancing - of course smoking and drinking. From time to time there were fights, but that was normal," says the photographer. There were also a few tourists, "but you could always tell them apart from the music fans." The Star Club was almost always full. "Funnily enough, it wasn't that crowded at the Hendrix concert I mentioned. But I could never do anything with his music anyway," explains Günther. Maybe also because he had been treated so roughly by the later world star. He liked the performance of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick &Tich better. "They jumped into the audience with enthusiasm. That was a highlight."
First concert 1966 - Beatles missed
His first concert was the appearance of the Spencer Davies Group in 1966. "That's where I took my first photos. Unfortunately, I was a bit late overall. Other photographers like Günther Zint were there much earlier. Unfortunately, I missed the time of the Beatles ", annoyed Günther, who often stopped off at the Große Feiheit with the musicians at "Gretel &Alfons" after and between concerts and became friends with a few bands. The store had previously been the Beatles' hangout for years. "Almost nothing has changed since then, there have been pictures of me for over 40 years," says the native of the Black Forest.
From the Black Forest to the cosmopolitan city
For many young people, a visit to the Star Club was also a sign of protest.Günther came to Hamburg from Königsfeld on May 31, 1956. "It was 6 a.m. on my 10th birthday, I remember that for sure," says Robert Günther. "My mother is from Hamburg and wanted to go back home. "Of course everything in Hamburg was new and big for me - that's clear when you come from the village to the city." Günther trained as a photo laboratory assistant and photo journalist and uses his Visits to the Star Club "just to take photos for fun". He also developed a passion for music and soon became a regular guest. "Fortunately, I was able to develop the photos in our apartment myself," says Günther. "Photos It wasn't that easy to do in the Star Club back then - without a flash and everything analog. There were some blurred images at the beginning."
Rebellion against home and society
For Günther, the Star Club was much more than just a music club. "It was also rebellion and protest against the parental home and against social constraints." For many parents, their children's music was noise. They also didn't like the fact that they were hanging around in the neighborhood. They were therefore against the club. For the young people, on the other hand, it was a piece of freedom in a time shaped by authorities and constraints.
"They tried everything to shut up shop"
Owner Manfred Weißleder, here at the bar in his club, had to deal with the authorities a lot.The Star Club also became legendary because it was also a thorn in the side of the law enforcement officers and they tried to make life difficult for the owner Manfred Weißleder with ever new requirements and ID checks of the guests. "There were a lot of police checks," Günther recalls. He once did not come into the shop because the police had cordoned it off for a short time. "The club was hated by the authorities and also by many politicians. They tried everything to get the shop closed. They had him on the Kieker." At 10 p.m., all guests under the age of 18 had to leave the club. But of course many would have tried to avoid that or would have come back with tricks. However, the youth protection troop in Hamburg, which was unique at the time, was on constant duty in the Star Club - and very persistently.
Today only a memorial stone reminds us of the Star Club
The Hamburg music legend Udo Lindenberg was there when the memorial stone was unveiled in 1997.In the late 1960s, other problems arose. Times have changed. The emerging discotheques made life difficult for the Star Club. Rock groups also played in larger halls and were too expensive for small clubs. Fewer and fewer people came, the bands could no longer be paid. The Star Club had to close on New Year's Eve 1969. The next tenant was the erotic theater Salambo. On February 18, 1983, the house was destroyed by a major fire. In 1978, Horst Fascher tried his luck with the opening of a new Star Club on Großneumarkt - and failed. "The time in the Star Club at that time was unique. It's just not that easy to repeat and imitate something like that," says Robert Günther, who still runs a fan page today. In the Große Freiheit 39 only a commemorative plaque reminds of the former Mecca of rock music.