The Beatles with their Bravo Otto Award

June 23, 2016, 6:00 pm

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The German concert tour was sponsored by Bravo magazine, so they took the opportunity of the first Beatles press conference in their country to present them with the Bravo Otto Award and get plenty of photographs of the Beatles with the award.

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Afternoon in Munich

June 24, 2016, 5:17 pm

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The Beatles came on stage at 6:47pm in Munich, Germany for the first concert performance in 6 months.  

Backstage rehearsals and relaxation

June 24, 2016, 5:20 pm

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Backstage in Munich, the Beatles rehearsed the harmonies on "Paperback Writer" and relaxed a bit.  Looks like they checked out the official tour poster as well.

Evening concert in Munich

June 24, 2016, 5:22 pm

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Beatlemania in Munich 1966

June 24, 2016, 5:24 pm

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Let's take a look at what the fans looked like in Munich 50 years ago....

A few more from Munich

June 24, 2016, 5:32 pm

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Train ride to Essens

June 25, 2016, 5:42 pm

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Arriving in Essen

June 25, 2016, 5:46 pm

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Here is a lovely story of a fan that got to meet the Beatles when they arrived at the train station.  Much love and thanks to That Eventuality blog for posting the translation of this story.

“In 1963, The Beatles sang their way into my young girl’s heart with ‘She Loves You.’ When The Beatles were due to come to Essen during a Blitzournee, it all came down to one question for me: how do I get there? My parents categorically declined it. My father, an officer with the railway police, spoke of ‘layabouts’ and ‘long-haired men’ and remained steadfast. Only to then surprise me with confidential information. After making me promise not to breathe a word to anyone, he told me that he was one of the officers on duty at the trainstation where The Beatles would arrive and said I may be able to experience the arrival of the train.

The day before, we found out that my school friend Rita could also come along; the destination of our dreams: Mühlheim-Styrum. My God, I was excited when we arrived there on 25 June 1966. There was nothing going on, there were barely any barriers set up. Were we to have The Beatles to ourselves?

When the chartered train arrived, I felt queasy. I’m not about to faint, I thought to myself. My father gave me the signal we had agreed upon, telling me what compartment The Beatles were in. I climbed aboard - and stood in front of The Beatles. My heart was racing and I couldn’t get a word out. All I could do was hold out my autograph book and a pen and silently ask them for their autographs. What a moment!

The moment ended abruptly when a police officer manouevered me out of the train. When John, Paul, George and Ringo departed the train, the only people on the track were photographers and the two of us girls. Right in front of the stairs the line of policemen ended. Our chance. No one stopped us as we lined up with The Beatles. We walked, no, floated, down the stairs next to them.The concert at the Gruga [Hall] wasn’t important any longer, we couldn’t get closer to The Beatles than that.” - Juliane Grote, WAZ, 25 June 2012

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Afternoon in Essen

June 25, 2016, 5:55 pm

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Essen press conference

June 25, 2016, 5:59 pm

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Between shows another mundane press conference was held.   Look at Brian standing in the background.  He does not look amused.

Evening in Essen

June 25, 2016, 6:01 pm

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By the evening concert, I guess Mal, Neil and Alf figured that the guys weren't going to be using the keyboard on "I'm Down" and took it off the stage.  

Train to Hamburg

June 26, 2016, 4:39 pm

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The Beatles boarded the train at Essen for their return to Hamburg at midnight on June 26, 1966.   The trip wasn't too long and so the guys did not sleep during the ride.    Paul was interviewed and said this about returning to Hamburg, "I want to see Hamburg emerge from the night.  Returning to Hamburg is a nice feeling.   The time in Hamburg was cruel.  I don't want to see our old flat or the Star-Club right now.  That is all behind us. "

I had this photo listed in my files as "going to Hamburg" but I am not sure.

Signed menu of the meal the guys had prepared for them during the ride.

Coming back to Hamburg

June 26, 2016, 4:55 pm

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When the Beatles arrived at the train station in Hamburg at 5:30am at least 200 fans were there to greet them.   There wasn't much protection for them and the Beatles had to make a made dash to get through the mob of fans.

Two fans managed to get autographs (their names are Elke and Sonja) and a few old friends from their Hamburg days also got to see them:  Icke Braun and Bettina Derlien (who was wearing a blonde wig because she remembered that John liked blondes) spoke to them briefly and  were invited to join them backstage before the concert that night.

The Beatles went into the car that waited for them and made it to their hotel where they slept until about 1:30pm.   Once they awoke and had some breakfast, John was examined by a doctor for sore throat.  They then went to the balcony and made a 45 second appearance to the fans that had gathered on the street below.

The Beatles left the hotel and went to the venue.

Hamburg press conference 1966

June 26, 2016, 5:23 pm

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The Beatles performed an afternoon and evening concert at Hamburg.   At this time, I am not able to tell the two concerts apart in the photographs, so I am going to combine the photos for one post.  

In between the two shows, a press conference was held.  It was at this press conference that John complained about the questions being bad....

A meal with some old friends

June 26, 2016, 5:36 pm

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After the press conference, the Beatles had a meal and got to talk and have photos taken with some of their friends from the Hamburg Days.    Those that were present backstage in 1966 were Icke Braun (and his wife at the time Evelyn Hamann), Bettina Derlien, Kathia Berger (who Paul always called "strawberry") and Jochen von Bredow.

Bert Kaempfert also made an apearance and there is a photo of him and George (reportedly from the June 28, 1966 issue of Bild magazine) was taken.  Paul spoke with him and congratulated him on his hit song, "Strangers in the Night." Tony Barrow recalls John singing a line of the song to Bert, whereas Bettina recalled that John refused to speak to him.  

Paul and Kathina "Strawberry" Berger

John with Icke and Betty.  You can see Kathina's artwork in the background

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What a difference 5 years can make

June 26, 2016, 5:40 pm

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Another visitor was Peter Bruchmann who saw the Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club in 1961 and took a series of photographs of them performing.     He gave John and George a copy of their photos that he had taken, mostly likely the first time they had seen these photos since they were taken five years earlier.  

The Tubon

June 26, 2016, 5:52 pm

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Paul (and John) played around with an instrument called a Tubon, which is a cylinder shaped instrument that had a keyboard on it.   Kathia Berger said that Bert Kaempfert brought it with him,  however it was Frank Dostal of the German Band the Faces that brought it.   His band had won a Beat Band contest in Feb. 1966 at the Star Club.   The winning prize was a guitar from George Harrison's collection signed by all four Beatles  (recently it has been discovered that the autographs are Neil Aspinall signatures and not really from the Beatles themselves).      I have read that originally the beginning of Strawberry Fields Forever was to be played on the Tubon.

A little rest and relaxation

June 26, 2016, 5:57 pm

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If all of the meeting with old friends wasn't enough, the Beatles also took a little time to relax backstage before the last concert in Germany.    It was said that people were calling the Beatles backstage nonstop and John ripped the phone out of the wall to get some peace and quiet.  Not sure how true that story is, but I could see it happening.

The last performance in Hamburg

June 26, 2016, 5:59 pm

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These photos could be from the afternoon or evening Hamburg 1966 concert

Meet the Rattles

June 27, 2016, 5:13 pm

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Before the Beatles left Hamburg on June 27, 1966, they stopped and had photos taken on the steps of the hotel with members of one of the opening acts on the tour, The Rattles.