The Scotch Club in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

was one of the first

discothèque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

in Germany, opening on 19 October 1959. It was closed in 1992.

Origin of the discothèque

On Monday 19 October 1959, the former restaurant The Scotch Club in Aachen, North Rhine Westphalia, re-opened as a dance hall, but the owner did not want to hire a band and used a record player instead. Klaus Quirini, a volunteer newspaper journalist reporting on the event, was as bored as most of the visitors and took over the record player. He used the style common with many radio news reporters, announcing songs and audience games and giving comments. The first song he played was the chart hit ''Ein Schiff wird kommen'' by

Lale Andersen Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...

. His first announcement wording (translation): "Ladies and gentlemen, we roll up our trouser legs and let water into the hall because ''a ship is coming'' with Lale Andersen". This style become popular, and he remained the disc-jockey, one of the earliest credited DJs, for eight years. As ''DJ Heinrich'', he organised other DJs to found a workers' union that made DJ an official (i.e. healthcare registered) profession.

Later development

Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Early life Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German (Transylvanian Saxon), h ...

the Rattles The Rattles are a German rock band, formed in Hamburg in 1960, best known for their 1970 psychedelic hit single, "The Witch". Career The Rattles performed in Hamburg, and played at the same venues as The Beatles on several occasions in 1962. In ...

and

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...

began their careers in the Scotch Club. The dress code was strict and bouncers refused entrance to men not wearing a tie, even celebrities such as television presenter

Frank Elstner Timm Franz Maria Elstner (born 19 April 1942), known as Frank Elstner, is a German television presenter. Early life Elstner went to school in Rastatt in Germany and gained his first experience in broadcasting as a child when he acted in radio ...

and singer

Udo Lindenberg Udo Lindenberg (born 17 May 1946) is a German singer, drummer, and composer. Career Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Micha ...

. The club closed in 1992. Opposite its address in Dahmengraben 7, another old disco, Le Bistro, is still in operation. Following the opening of the Scotch Club in late 1959, other discothèques opened throughout Aachen and in other major towns. When the first club opened in the US, there were already 17 discos in Aachen.

References

{{coord, 50.7758, N, 6.08816, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Dance venues Nightclubs in Germany Companies based in Aachen History of Aachen 1959 establishments in Germany 1992 disestablishments in Germany