Next year will mark 60 years since the Beatles did their first gig in Hamburg.
In the Indra Club on the Grosse Freiheit in the Reeperhbahn in St Pauli.
It was the first of 48 nights they played in the German port city.
John Lennon was to say when asked what it was like growing up in Liverpool: ‘I didn’t grow up in Liverpool, I grew up in Hamburg.’
Nobody knows the story of Der Fab Four in Hamburg better than Stefanie Hempel who will take you on a guided music tour around their favourite haunts.
And sing you their songs along the way.
On the ukelele.
Which was George Harrison’s favourite instrument.
Just one of the many things you didn’t know but will after Stefanie has finished with you.
Stefanie’s music tour is without a shadow of a doubt the best music tour I have ever been on.
Just when you think that she has exhausted her backlog of stories she will come up with another.
Stefanie, of course, is a true believer and had a picture of John above her bed as a young girl.
She is also one of the first (and I will promise you, the best) Beatles tour guide in the city.
Stefanie gave us three hours of her time and finished up with a three-song set in the Reeperbahn Museum.
August 17 was the date that The Beatles played their first song at the Indra. I would love to be back listening to Stefanie on that date next year.
And I bet that John will be smiling down on her too when she does belt out In My Life.
For a recap on a couple of wunderbar days in Hamburg then give this an oul’ read https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/hamburgers-and-ships/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/why-german-trains-always-run-on-time/.
And visit http://www.hamburg.com. And of course http://www.hempels-musictour.de/en/ .
