McCartney Times

By the time they left in 1962 they had released their first single and were on their way to conquering the world and changing the face of pop music forever.

The fascinating story of how the Fab Four were moulded into the supergroup they became by their experiences in Hamburg was the highlight of my visit to the city, as it was told by professional musician Stefanie Hempel on a guided tour of the St Pauli district.

At the heart of St Pauli is the Reeperbahn which still has strip clubs and sex boutiques but is also the home of the Beatles-Platz, where tourists can pose with statues of the band on a piazza designed to look like an old-fashioned vinyl record.

Stefanie is a self-confessed Beatles fanatic and has pieced together her entertaining tour by interviewing local residents and others who worked with or remember the Fab Four of the early 1960s.

She reveals some fascinating insights into their lifestyle as she conducts a ramble around the places they knew, where they lived and the clubs they played in, some of which are still going strong 50 years later.

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This includes the Bambi cinema, where the Beatles lodged next to the toilets and tried to grab some sleep after playing all night to audiences comprised mainly of drunken sailors – and at least on one occasion, the head of the Hamburg underworld.The Indra club is still booming, where the owners were so doubtful of the boys entertaining the audience they put a stripper on stage with them midway through their set.

The band came under the influence of a local group of artists in Hamburg who advised them to adopt their own style, not only in appearance but musically.

Original member Stuart Sutcliffe tragically died and drummer Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr as the boys learned their trade before they were ready to return to England.

What made Stefanie’s tour so special was that at each stop she produced a ukulele and launched into a Beatles song, which made the experience part walking tour and part singalong.

Source: Travel: A ticket to ride in Hamburg | Short & City breaks | Travel | Express.co.uk