In the no. 1 of Beatles Platz, in the heart of Hamburg's red light district, the neon silhouette of a stripper at the top of the Susis Bar Show aims to rival the discreet metal silhouettes that pay homage to those five Beatles who debuted in the mythical district in 1960. of Sankt Pauli. Apart from the profiles of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, guitar in hand, those of bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who played with them until 1961, and that of drummer Pete Best, who in 1962 would be replaced by Ringo Starr, shine in the twilight.
The tourists during the day who follow the titles of their songs engraved on metal strips at the foot of the sculptures have nothing to do with the visitors who at night, especially on weekends, participate in the party in that street full of clubs. striptease, sex shops and brothels, now perfectly legal since Germany regulated prostitution in 2002 by the Social Democrats and the Greens. And just like 60 years ago, they share public space with live music venues.
Three of the four venues where the Beatles played, the Indra, the Kaiserkeller and the Star Club, maintain their names. There are guides that tell in detail the adventures of those brilliant young people who from August 1960 to December 1962 perfected their musical skills in that port city, before becoming the transformative band of pop music that would rival the Rolling Stones in notoriety.
It was Bruno Koschmider, owner of several clubs in the city, who hired them for a season, first at Indra and then at Kaiserkeller, where they replaced Derry and the Seniors. But that had nothing to do with what they had imagined. Paul's father would not have allowed his chick to travel to Hamburg if he had imagined it. They were exploited in a place of perdition, they had them sleeping behind the screen of an old cinema.
The Beatles didn't like Koschmider's clubs or how they were treated. And in one of their pranks, they jumped on the Kaiserkeller's wooden stage to test it, until it broke. Enraged, Koschmider ordered them to be beaten. Soon, the band received an offer to play in the Top Ten, cooler, more serious, they paid better. In fact they always sneaked out to see Tony Sheridan play. So in October 1960 they said goodbye to Koschmider and he took revenge by reporting Harrison for working as a minor (he was 17). In November, when things were getting interesting, George was deported.
Today, in front of the maroon facade of the Indra in which everything from a punk festival to stand up comedy and dancing club is advertised, a group of nostalgic people enjoys the post-rain moment and surrounds the Beatle route guide when it starts with a ukulele to remember the old times. The group then advances along Große Freiheit, towards Beatles Platz, and stops in front of 36, where the Kaiserkeller's famous guitar is still overhead. At the box office, however, tickets for a boxing tournament are sold. On the sidewalk opposite you can read Star Club in a very discreet side sign, on the walls of Paradies, a brothel.
The place that was then the typical rogue red light district of a port city with traffic of sailors is today a brisk business: prostitution was regulated as a commercial activity and the German treasury makes a profit from the 15,000 million euros annually that it already generates in the country. Officially there are 28,000 “sex workers” and 2,000 establishments.
They promised to emancipate prostitutes but, according to studies echoed by the International Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution, 90% are controlled by a pimp, a job that is now legal. The law has industrialized prostitution. And with the arrival of a million Ukrainian refugees due to the war, locals are constantly searching for fresh meat.
Even the Beatle route has some late-night competitors: former pimp Oli Zeriadtke has become a neighborhood tour guide, offering tours with explicit language and off-color jokes. And he says legalization has made society accept “sex workers.”
