My Beatles Pilgrimage tour – Part 3: Hamburg, Germany
The tour of Hamburg, Germany was not included as part of the The Beatles Pilgrimage Tour. It was part of the “add on” that was a little extra. Tony worked with Peter from the Hamburg Tours so that we could get a great tour!
I have to admit that I do not know German. Going to a country and not knowing the language can be a challenge. I have to say thank you to the people of Hamburg for putting up with two Americans who did not know what they were doing. Most people spoke a little English, which was very nice.
It seems to me that the Beatle fans that I know will go on a trip to Liverpool and London, but many of them skip Hamburg. I am not sure why (besides the language issue), but I do want to encourage all of the fans to consider adding Hamburg to their travel places to go. It is just really neat to see where the Beatles got their start as a serious band.
Day 8- Hamburg, Germany
We flew from Gatwick Airport in London to The Hamburg Airport. It took only one hour and 10 minutes (but you do lose an hour between England and Germany). From the airport we got a taxi and went to our hotel, The Hotel Hafen Hamburg. The hotel is very big and older. The rooms are a bit small, but they are nice and acceptable. The location of the hotel is very nice. It is within walking distance of the Reeperbaun area, but it isn’t in a place where you would feel like you were in danger.
After we got into our room, we decided to set off and find the Hamburg Hard Rock Café. I had heard that the Hard Rock in Hamburg had some great Beatles stuff. Also being the geek that I am, I wanted to eat a hamburger in Hamburg. We got a little turned around on our way to the Hard Rock, but we managed to locate it and enjoyed our meal.
The neatest thing inside the Hamburg Hard Rock is some sketches that Stu did while in Hamburg in 1960. But just a little advice if you are ever in the Hamburg and go to the Hard Rock, most of the Beatles stuff is in the gift shop. There is a jacket that John supplely wore, a postcard Ringo sent to his Grandma, a letter that George wrote to someone while in Hamburg, and a few other neat items.
After the Hard Rock, we walked along the waterfront for a bit and went into the souvenir shops. I was amazed that I could not find a soda machine anywhere, but there were cigarette machines all over the place. You just never see ciggie machines in the States anymore. I haven’t seen one since I was a very little girl.
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| Sketches by Stu |
Day 9: Hamburg, Germany
Today was the day of our tour of the Beatles sight of Hamburg; however the tour did not begin until 3:00pm. So we had quite a bit of time to explore on our own. We walked around the Reeperbahn area. We really got a good feel for how things were when the Beatles came to Hamburg in the early 1960’s. We saw many sex shops, strip clubs, homeless people sleeping, mixed among fast food restaurants, souvenir shops and families with small children walking. My mom says that it was a “seedy” place. We were obviously there during the daytime, so nothing was really going on and it is interesting to note that both my mom and I never felt like we were in danger in Hamburg. Although we were curious, we made sure not be to out after dark, just to be on the safe side.
We met up with our wonderful tour guide, Peter, from theHamburg Tours. Peter is a wonderful tour guide. He is someone who has lived in Hamburg and is a Beatles fan. He even met John Lennon at the western-wear shop in the Reeperbahn when John went there for a brief break in film of “How I won the War” in 1966. Peter knows his stuff! And bless him for giving to the tour to everyone in German and then giving it again to my mom and I in English.
We saw all of the clubs from when the Beatles were in Hamburg: The Indra, the Kaiserkeller, the Star Club, where the Top Ten club once was and we also saw where the Bambi Kino was located. I know I have said this about so many of the Beatles places that I have visited, but when you are in one of those locations that you have read about in books, it really does make the Beatles story come to life. Sure I knew that the Beatles had played at the Indra, but to see where it was located and to see the elephant sign that I had only seen in photos, just really brought everything from black and white into color.
The best location spot of this tour is the doorway where John Lennon stood on the cover of the Rock n Roll album. Today it is just the entrance to an apartment, but it was awesome to stand in that doorway. Peter also took my mom and I around to few other spots in the car. We saw where Astrid lived in Hamburg. She lived in a much nicer area than where the Beatles performed! Her home was very nice. And we also saw where Astrid took some famous photos of her and Stu .
After the tour we went into a pub and Peter arranged for us to talk to Horst Faucher, whom you will recall was the man who brought the Beatles to the Star Club. Horst told us about how on New Year’s Eve of 1962 Paul McCartney asked him to come on stage and sing “Hallelujah I love her so” and how it is on the Star club tapes record. He told us a few other stories and was so kind and friendly. Horst has a book called “Let the Good Times Roll” about his time as the manager of the Star Club. It currently is only available in the German language, but Horst tells me that it will be available in English within the next year. He has my email and will let me know when it is out. So I will keep you all informed. His stories were so great that he told, that I am anxious to read his whole book! What a great way to end a great Beatles Pilgrimage tour!
Day 10: Hamburg Germany to Alton, Illinois
Well my time abroad came to an end. It was up at 5:00a.m. and a long flight from Hamburg to New Jersey. Then a long layover and a three hour flight from New Jersey to St. Louis and a van ride that took 30 minutes to my home in Alton, Illinois.
I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my trip. And I sincerely hope that you all get the opportunity to go on a similar trip of your own. It is well worth it!