Beatles Square
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 '59.4 " N , 9 ° 57' 26.3" E
The Beatles Square is a public space in Hamburg-St. Pauli in the course of the Reeperbahn and the junction with Große Freiheit , circular with a diameter of 29 meters and black flooring that is visually reminiscent of a vinyl record . At the edge of the square, silhouette sculptures of the five Beatles musicians (including Stuart Sutcliffe , whose sculpture, however, was positioned a little apart from the remaining four) have been set up. The figure of the drummer leaves open whether it is the later, well-known Beatles drummer Ringo Starror Pete Best , who was active for most of the band's time in Hamburg .
This square is intended to remind of the importance of Hamburg in the history of the Beatles, where the foundation stone for their world career was laid. The design comes from the architects Dohse & Stich and won a public tender before a number of other competitors. The cost of the project was over 500,000 euros and was raised in equal parts by donations, sponsors and the city of Hamburg .
The project was initiated by the Hamburg radio station Oldie 95 . At the instigation of the station, the IG Beat City was created in May 2005 , which regards Beatles-Platz as the prelude to further projects aimed at remembering the Beatles in Hamburg's cityscape.
After Hamburg's First Mayor Ole von Beust and the Senator for Culture Karin von Welck had given the Senate's official approval for the implementation of the concept, construction work began. The original plan was for construction to start at the end of 2005 / beginning of 2006, costs of 100,000 euros and completion in May 2006, in time for the soccer World Cup .
The construction phase began on May 29, 2008 at 1 p.m. with the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony , which the initiators Stephan Heller ( Oldie 95 ), Uriz von Oertzen ( Hi-Life Entertainment ), Frank Otto , Karin von Welck (Senator for Culture), Markus Schreiber (Head of the Hamburg-Mitte District Office ) and Jörn Walter (Senior Construction Director).
The construction work was scheduled to take about three months, so that the opening ceremony could take place on September 11, 2008 by the first mayor of the city. The Beatles memorial consists of metal figures of the band members as well as engravings of the titles of successful Beatles songs embedded in the floor. The engravings had several typographical errors that could not be corrected before the opening due to time constraints. In the meantime the three faulty panels have been replaced.
From 2009 to 2012, Beatlemania Hamburg, a museum dedicated to the Beatles with an exhibition, was located in the immediate vicinity of the square.
