hamburgmuseum

The Hamburg Sound - Beatles, Beat And Große Freiheit

In the spring of 1962, red posters announced the opening of the Star-Club on Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg's St. Pauli district. This is where the world-wide career of the Beatles has started. At that time, the clubs on Reeperbahn, the Indra, the Kaiserkeller and the Top Ten, gave birth to Beat Music distilled from Skiffle and Rock’n‘Roll, soon to be labeled "Hamburg Sound" by contemporaries all over the world.

From 3 June until 5 November 2006, the hamburgmuseum (Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte – Museum of Hamburg History) reminds us of this creative era which was to inspire a whole generation and to pave the way for today's pop culture, by putting on a grand special exhibition of "THE HAMBURG SOUND – BEATLES, BEAT & GROSSE FREIHEIT“.

With original objects, stagings, photos, films, documents and, naturally, with the sound of that era, the genesis of Beat Music in Hamburg, its famous and not so famous representatives and the places of their appearances are presented in this exhibition. The Beatles and their unrivaled career are at the center of attention, but there is also room for those many other well-known artists such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, Tony Sheridan, Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, The Searchers and Ray Charles, as well as the Hamburg Bands such as the Rattles or the Rivets. Original musical instruments of famous musicians, the Beatles portraits by Astrid Kirchherr, works of early Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, innumerous memorabilia and a reconstructed Star-Club stage incorporating original parts will give a living impression of the music scene of that era. At the same time, the background to this far-reaching revolution of music history and youth culture is shown – from fashion to consumer behaviour, from the style of living to the student protest. For the first time, Hamburg realises its historic role as the birthplace of Beat Music. More events will follow in the coming years.

There will be parallel releases of a lavishly illustrated accompanying book on Beat Music and Hamburg's cultural history of the sixties, as well as a CD with the most famous music tracks of the "Hamburg Sound“. The side events will include guided tours – also multi-lingual – as well as special topic group tours through the exhibition or to the Beatles' places of interest in St. Pauli. Additional appearances of musicians and bands as well as an international guitar festival on 21 and 22 October will round off the program.