#thebeatles #hamburg
00:00:00 Getting to the Bambi Kino
00:00:22 Gretel & Alfons: https://youtu.be/uXkqIAZdhhE
00:00:58 Star Club Hamburg : https://youtu.be/flNYHIMYnnU
00:01:12 Kaiserkeller - Große Freiheit 36
00:02:11 Indra MusikClub : https://youtu.be/geeO183_2AM
00:02:37 Bambi Kino (Cinema) - The Beatles’ first place to stay in Hamburg
"Not exactly a five-star hotel: this is what the young Beatles must have thought when moving into their first digs in Hamburg. It comprised two rooms in a children's cinema, situated just next to the projector room and with the men's toilet serving as a bathroom – certainly an inconspicuous place to stay for these soon-to-be shining stars of music.
The Bambi cinema was located on Paul-Roosen-Strasse, a quiet side street only a few metres away from the hustle and bustle of the Reeperbahn. Today, only a garage with a drawing of Bambi reminds us of a location steeped in music history. The cinema was then owned by Bruno Koschmider, who had brought the Beatles, young amateurs at the time, to Hamburg for their first gigs. To save the young men the cost of accommodation, he put them up in two small rooms on the premises of his children’s cinema. Living in the Bambi cinema was certainly anything but luxurious. The dark, windowless rooms were shared between the four of them, with worn-out army bunks to sleep on and only a sink to wash in rather than a shower. Plus, there was no peace and quiet as the film screenings for the little ones would often start in the morning hours – when George, John, Paul and Stuart had just about returned from their gigs and would have been desperate for a sleep-in. A characteristic photo of the Fab Four from that time has now been put up outside the building on 33 Paul-Roosen-Strasse: the four lads with big grins on their faces, and in their hands the pills that enabled them to just about survive these almost sleepless nights – the stimulant Preludin." - https://www.hamburg-travel.com/see-explore/sightseeing/bambi-cinema/
" The Beatles’ second day in Hamburg
Thursday 18 August 1960
Following their first performance at the Indra Club, The Beatles stayed at venue owner Bruno Koschmider’s flat in Hamburg.
The next day he took them to the Bambi-Filmkunsttheater at 33 Paul-Roosen Strasse. The Beatles were unsure why they were being shown around the deserted cinema, which showed little but old Westerns, until Koschmider led them to a filthy room behind the screen. Koschmider told the group, via his interpreter Herr Steiner, that this was to be The Beatles’ home during their Hamburg stay.
We lived backstage in the Bambi Kino, next to the toilets, and you could always smell them. The room had been an old storeroom, and there were just concrete walls and nothing else. No heat, no wallpaper, not a lick of paint; and two sets of bunk beds, like little camp beds, with not very many covers. We were frozen.
Paul McCartney
Anthology
Koschmider also pointed out the cinema toilet, telling them it was where they were to wash.
" We were put in this pigsty, like a toilet it was, in a cinema, a rundown sort of fleapit. We were living in a toilet, like right next to the ladies’ toilet. We would go to bed late and be woken up the next day by the sound of the cinema show. We’d try to get into the ladies’ first, which was the cleanest of the cinema’s lavatories, but fat old German women would push past us.
We’d wake up in the morning and there would be old German fraus pissing next door. That was where we washed. That was our bathroom. It was a bit of a shock in a way." - John Lennon
"There were no cooking facilities at the Bambi Kino, and the group had no money when they first arrived in Hamburg. The Beatles took to visiting the British Sailors’ Society where the manager, Mr Hawk, gave them cornflakes and milk.
That evening, at the Indra Club, they were encouraged to raise their game by manager Allan Williams. He encouraged them to “Make it a show, boys!”, a phrase quickly taken up by Koschmider – the cry of “Mak show, Beatles! Mak show!” would become a hallmark of this first Hamburg show.
The Beatles took note, and began working on their stage show. By the end of their time in Germany they would be a tight live act, regularly drawing crowds and able to effortlessly thrill their audiences." - https://www.beatlesbible.com/1960/08/18/live-indra-club-hamburg-2/