Hamburg played a very important part in creating the sound that changed the world in the 1960s. It also played a very important part in the growth and development of that 60s sensation – The Beatles!
On August 16, 1960, a completely unknown band consisting of John Lennon (age 19), Paul McCartney (age 18), George Harrison (age 17), drummer Pete Best (age 18) and bass player Stuart Sutcliffe (age 20), arrived in Hamburg. They called themselves ‘The Beatles’ and were booked to play at the Indra Club.
On this 75 minute walkabout, you will learn the story of this first tour and how the new band quickly moved on to bigger clubs like the Kaiserkeller. Find out how they ended up in jail and were deported back to Liverpool by the end of the year.
Hear about the band’s return to Hamburg in 1961 and how they went directly to the Top Ten Club, where the longest engagement of their career followed. Learn about changes in the line-up of the band and in the way they looked. Relive the scenes when the band returned to Hamburg one last time to play at the Star Club.
The Hamburg Beatles Tour provides first-hand information from contemporary witnesses who will fill in gaps in the story and dispel rumors about the time the Beatles spent in Hamburg.
Your guide will show you the former site of the Star Club, once one of the most popular clubs in the world. See the Indra and the Kaiserkeller, which are in almost the same condition as when the Beatles played there! View the site of the other club the Beatles played at, which many people don’t know about!
Look at the Cinema where the band once lived in fairly squalid conditions, and the backyard where, it is said, the ghost of John Lennon can sometimes be seen!
The tour ends at Beatles-Platz (Ecke Grosse Freiheit/Reeperbahn).