The Beatles-Platz () is a plaza in the

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pau ...

quarter in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany, at the crossroads of

Reeperbahn The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also n ...

and

Große Freiheit The Große Freiheit (German for: "Great Freedom") is a street starting on the North Side to Hamburg's Reeperbahn road in the St. Pauli quarter. It is part of the red-light district. History The street was named in 1610 after the fact that Co ...

. It is circular, with a diameter of and paved black to make it look like a vinyl record. Surrounding the place are five statues, representing

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Stuart Sutcliffe Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a pa ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

, and a hybrid of drummers

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (; born 24 November 1941) is an English retired musician who was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He was dismissed shortly before the band achieved worldwide fame and is one of several people referred to as a ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

each of whom played with The Beatles at times during their Hamburg engagements. This plaza was built to commemorate Hamburg's importance in The Beatles' history. The draft design was by architects Dohse & Stich during a common tendering. Building the project cost about €500,000 and was split among donations, sponsors and the city of Hamburg. The project's initiator was the Hamburg radio station ''Oldie 95''. On the station's instigation the community of interest ''IG Beat City'' was founded, which considers The Beatles-Platz as a prelude for more projects targeting The Beatles' memorization in Hamburg's cityscape. After Hamburg's First Mayor

Ole von Beust Ole von Beust (born 13 April 1955) is a former German politician who was First Mayor of Hamburg from 31 October 2001 to 25 August 2010, serving as President of the Bundesrat from 1 November 2007 on for one year. He was succeeded as mayor by ...

and Minister of Culture Karin von Welck gave the senate's consent for the project, construction began. The first drawing saw the construction started around December 2005–January 2006, with overall costs of €100,000 and completion in May 2006, in time for the Football World Cup. On 29 May 2008 at 13:00, construction began with the symbolic groundbreaking, which was done by the initiator Stephan Heller. Uriz von Oertzen (Hi-Life Entertainment), Frank Otto, Dr. Karin von Welck (minister of culture), Markus Schreiber (head of borough exchange Hamburg-Mitte) and Prof. Jörn Walter (construction supervisor). Hamburg- St

Construction continued for approximately three months, and a ceremonial opening took place on 11 September 2008 presided over by the city's First Mayor. The Beatles memorial consists of metal statues of the band members as well as song names of successful songs. The initial engravings held some spelling mistakes such as ''Drive me car'', ''Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and ''Can't Buy Melove '',Note: mistake in bold by author which could not be corrected before completion. By now the incorrect plates have been exchanged.

References

External links

www.beatles-platz.tv

Pictures of the Beatles-Platz
Squares in Hamburg Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte Monuments and memorials to the Beatles 2008 establishments in Germany Tourist attractions in Hamburg Outdoor sculptures in Hamburg {{Hamburg-struct-stub