“As above”
Mark Ashworth, November 2025.
We flew from Manchester airport to Hamburg Flughafen, immediately crossing two Beatles’ related locations off our list. Paul and Pete Best were deported via Flughafen back to London on 5 December 1960, the first time either of them had flown. Ringo made his first flight one year later, flying from London to Hamburg on 30 December 1961 to join Tony Sheridan’s house band at the Top Ten Club.
On April 10, 1962, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Pete Best boarded a flight from what was then Manchester Ringway Airport, traveling to Hamburg via Amsterdam. Their journey marked another significant trip to the city that had played such a pivotal role in their early career. The following day, George Harrison departed for Hamburg as well, accompanied by manager Brian Epstein and Stuart Sutcliffe’s mother, Millie Sutcliffe.
Returning
to the airport to greet them, John, Paul and Pete were met with an unexpected
reunion. Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann—close German friends they had made
during their earlier visits—were at the airport to meet Millie. However, what
should have been a warm welcome soon turned sombre. Astrid delivered
heartbreaking news to the three Beatles: Stuart Sutcliffe, their dear friend
and former bandmate, had passed away the previous day. The devastating
announcement cast a shadow over their return to Hamburg, marking a profound and
sorrowful moment in the band’s history.
Fortunately,
over the next few days, I found that Hamburg
still has many places where fans can get a sense of connection to the
group’s formative years and reflect on Stuart’s legacy as they retrace the
Beatles’ steps through the city.
First Night Nerves on the Reeperbahn
After a 25-minute taxi ride through Hamburg we arrived at our lodgings for the next three nights. Disappointingly, Airbnb had no cinema storerooms available at the time of booking so we had to make do with rooms at the Prize Hotel by Radisson on Holstenstraße (Ring 2) in St. Pauli, an ideal location for visitors to Hamburg with an interest in the Beatles, as it is situated close to the Große Freiheit where many sites associated with the group’s time here can be found.
Undoubtedly, its position near the beginning of the Reeperbahn—Hamburg’s well-known red-light district— also makes it a convenient choice for those engaging in sex tourism, something I didn’t realise was a thing until doing the in depth research for this blog. In fact, a simple Google search for “Reeperbahn” quickly leads to websites that provide reviews and ratings of various Hamburg establishments, offering detailed guidance on where to get the most bang for your buck.
Indeed, as we walked from the Prize and turned onto the Reeperbahn I suffered something of a sensory overload, because Hamburg’s sinful mile, famous for its bars, strip joints and brothels appeared little changed from how I imagined it looked that August night in 1960 when the Beatles first stepped out of Allan Williams’ van and surveyed their surroundings. George would later remember the Reeperbahn and Große Freiheit as the best thing they'd ever seen with clubs and neon lights everywhere and lots of restaurants and entertainment.
I have to admit, I found myself feeling somewhat on edge, despite the fact that it was still relatively early in the evening and the streets were far from crowded. My imagination ran wild as we walked along; it seemed as though every passer-by could be a gangster, a pimp, or a prostitute, lurking with the intention of robbing us, murdering us, or perhaps something even worse. It was reassuring that Steve seemed so familiar with the area—he's visited three times over the past decade, likely because he's such a big Beatles’ fan.
I’ve been in London’s Soho at night which has a similar vibe, but this felt darker and seedier. I read all the neon signs – Susi’s Show Bar, the Pink Palace Sex House - and thought back to George Harrison’s comments in the Anthology book about there being places where there were “donkeys shagging women (allegedly, he never saw it himself) and mud-wrestling women and transvestites” and wondered how much was true and how much was folklore. In Harrison’s recollection the history books had glorified and exaggerated it, and I decided not to investigate further.
Reeperbahn view #1 looking back towards Große Freiheit
Reeperbahn
view #2 looking towards the former Top Ten Club (now Molotow)
Reeperbahn
view #3 looking up the Große Freiheit.
