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Published: October 25th 2023
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About one month ago we started our voyage around the Baltic Sea. The first city we visited was Lübeck, Germany. Then we took the ferry from Kiel (Germany) to Klaipeda (Lithuania). From Lithuania we drove northwards to Latvia and Estonia and back to Latvia again. We took the ferry from Latvia to Sweden. After Sweden followed Denmark. And now we are back in Germany again. It feels as if we are coming home a bit. There is one city we like to see in Germany still: the thriving city of Hamburg.
Hamburg Hamburg is not far from Lübeck, the city where we started our journey. Both cities were part of the Hanse league once. But whereas Lübeck emerged unscathed from WW II, Hamburg was devastated almost completely. That is why in Lübeck you still can find traces of the Hanse league, while in Hamburg modern architecture has risen from the ashes.
We have a luxurious appartment in the Nebendahlstrasse in a neat neighbourhood. It is a city hotel, called Albertus Paris Apart Hotel. The woman at the reception is very friendly and has good information about the city. She tells that her uncle owned “The Star-Club”, the club
where The Beatles started their career. Afterwards he has had a long time contact with Paul McCartney, she says.
The Beatles With S-bahn S1 we head to the Reeperbahn, the illustrious street where
Wein, Weib und Gesang has shaken up the international nightlife crowd since time immemorial. A side alley of the Reeperbahn near the memorial for the Beatles at the Beatle platz is the Große Freiheit. At number 39 sits a club which was once “The Star-Club”. But it has gone. Burned down. A little plaque reminds of the spot where The Beatles broke through once.
But
The Star-Club was not the first club where The Beatles played in Hamburg. That was
Indra Musikclub at number 64. There first show was on August 18, 1960. That was still with Pete Best on drums and Stu Sutcliffe on bassguitar. Bruno Koschmider, the owner of the club, had invited them to attract new audience. Before the
Indra had been a popular stage already, where
akrobatische Schönheitstänzerinnen,
orientalische Degenartisten, Stripteasetänzerinnen and
Tanzkapellen had their performances.
48 shows of The Beatles followed. They played every day from 20:30 till early morning and became from a shy band a local
sensation, according to the website of
Indra.
After their show the boys went to
Gretel und Alfons at number 29 to relax.
When we stand in front of the door of the
Indra we meet a band which played there the night before. Proudly they point to a poster next to the door with their name. I had never heard of them. When I peep inside the
Indra it is just a cramped room.
The
Kaiserkeller at number 36 is larger than the
Indra. It was also owned by Bruno Koschmider. When the
Indra closed The Beatles continued their career at the
Kaiserkeller. Now it is a rock club. Hundreds of girls are sitting in front of the door, waiting for their idol. We look at the poster who this idol might be. “Larkin Poe”, an American roots rock band. Linda and I look at eachother. No idea.
The
Star-Club remained the most important club however. Here all the giants played in the sixties: Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Bill Haley, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Black Sabbath, Cream and so on. And The Beatles of course. Owner was Horst Fascher, who became befriended
with The Beatles. That must have been the uncle of the lady at the reception of our hotel by the way.
The port We take our lunch at the Altonaer Balkon. According to the Lonely Planet there should be a magnificent view on the harbour. But that is quite disappointing. In stead of a magnificent view there is a big tree and an even a far bigger cruise terminal which block it. It is a nice spot however, where we take a bath in the autumn sun.
Down we go to the quays, where fish companies have their stores. We take the local ferry 61 and sail to a stop further on, called Fishmarket. It is an old Jugenstil building. We cannot go in however, because a Polish film crew are making recordings.
The next stop is Landungsbrücken, where we take the S1 back to our hotel.
The end We are tired of traveling and all the impressions we have got last four weeks. So we stay one day in our luxurious appartment before we go back to The Netherlands. The only thing we do is shopping in the supermarket nearby. It seems to be
far cheaper here than in The Netherlands. And again we are enthusiastic about all the fish products they have here. All countries we have visited during our trip have an extensive arsenal on fish productes. Why don’t we have that in The Netherlands, I ask myself again.
Anyway we are happy to be back in The Netherlands, when we park our car in Schiedam. We are looking back on a succesfull trip around the Baltic Sea. And ofcourse we are gratefull to our loyal fourwheeler Miss Polo, who managed to drive 4500 kilometers without any complaint.
Thank you for reading.
Linda and André
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Vlado Tlučko
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Som sa dozvedel veľa nového o klube v Hamburgu.Vďaka