Both Beatlesplatz and Beatlemania stand on the 930 metre long Reeperbahn, the main thoroughfare of Hamburg's St Pauli district. This is an area in which the Beatles spent significant periods from mid-1960 until the end of 1962.
The Beatles in Development in Hamburg
The Beatles underwent significant change and development between their first appearance in the city, at the Indra club on July 17th 1960, and their last show, at the Star Club, on December 31 1962. Long hours on the stages of Hamburg was a factor, believe some observers, in the Beatles evolving into a world class act. That time also saw significant changes to the band's line up. Their number was trimmed from five to four when bassist Stuart Sutcliffe left in 1961, prompting Paul McCartney to take over on bass. And the man who became known to the world as Ringo Starr, Richard Starkey, replaced Pete Best on drums in August 1962.
John Lennon's comment, "I grew up in Liverpool but I came of age in Hamburg," is often interpreted as a telling statement on the degree to which time in the Hanseatic city played a role in his, and the band's, development into world stars.
The Beatles in Four Hamburg Clubs
The Beatles held residencies in four St Pauli clubs in the period from 1960 to 1962. After starting at the Indra club, on the Grosse Freiheit, they played at the Kaiserkeller, the Top Ten Club and finally the Star Club.
No Permanent Beatles Attractions Until 2008
Yet despite the band members spending significant chunks of the period which preceded their chart success in Hamburg, the city had no permanent Beatles related attractions until last year. Then, in 2008, a monument to the Liverpudlian band was unveiled at the junction of Reeperbahn and Grosse Freiheit. Renamed Beatlesplatz (meaning Beatles' Square), that area now hosts metallic outlines representing the Fab Four, plus, a short distance away, a fifth figure, symbolic of Stuart Sutcliffe. The design of themonument is circular, symbolising a record on a turntable.
Hamburg's Beatlemania Exhibition at Nobistor
The Beatlemania attraction, which opened on May 29 of this year, is located just a couple of hundred metres from Beatlesplatz, in a multi-storey building close to Nobistor. A yellow submarine can be seen hanging from the exhibition's facade, above the Reeperbahn.
Once inside, visitors take an elevator up to the start of the exhibition, which recreates the atmosphere of Hamburg in the early '60s, and work their way down through five storeys, following aspects of the Beatles' career, from their time in Hamburg to their eventual break-up. In addition to exhibitions of Beatles related artefacts, Beatlemania has a number of interactive elements.
As a new wave of Beatlemania sweeps the world, following the release of The Beatles: Rock Band game and remastered versions of the Beatles' albums, Hamburg may well have what it takes to attract some of those fans.
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