Beatlemania

At the beginning of their international career, in 1962, the band from Liverpool called »The Beatles« performs dozens of times on stage at the Star Club, near the Reeperbahn. When the band returns to the city four years later for two brief sell-out performances, as part of a »rapid tour« organised by teenage magazine BRAVO, Schmidt and his family are among the audience. While the facial expression of the then Bundestag member appears to show little enthusiasm, almost half a century later he recalls in one of his final interviews: »I thought they were quite good, yes.« The concert hall that was infamous for its unsatisfying acoustics is torn down in 1986 to make room for an expansion of the trade fair grounds.