The Beatles made few friends in Germany. They did make friends with Astrid
Voorman and Astrid Kirchherr. Klaus and Astrid were fans of the Beatles.
Klaus had been born in Berlin, and he arrived in Hamburg in 1956 to study
Art. He also took photography, which is how he met Astrid, who became his
girlfriend.
Astrid came from a middle-class family. She was also taking photography
like Klaus. By 1960, they left Art school. Klaus was working for a magazine
as an advertiser. Astrid was working as an assistant for a photographer.
One night, Klaus went to a club. He'd never been to this type of club
before because he liked jazz not pop music. The club was the Kaiserkeller,
but it wasn't the Beatles that were playing. It was Rory Storme's group,
with Ringo on the drums. But it just so happens, he sat down next to the
Beatles. He couldn't help but laugh at the way they were dressed. The Beatles
then went onstage to play, and right away Klaus liked them. He wanted to
talk to them. Klaus stayed there for the eight hours the Beatles played.
When Klaus got home, he told Astrid about the band he'd seen. She wasn't
very happy that he spent all night at a club, and she wasn't interested in
what Klaus told her. He was planning on going to see them again the next
night, but Astrid refused to go with him. Klaus thought of a way to meet
the Beatles. He brought a record along with him he thought the band would
be interested in. At first, he just watched, trying to get nearer to them.
When the Beatles took their break, he approached John Lennon. Klaus showed
him the record. John never spoke German, and he never tried to. He told Klaus
that Stu was the artist, but when Klaus tried to approach Stu, he didn't
succeed, so he just sat down embarrassed.
On his third visit, Astrid came with him, and also another friend. Astrid
was scared when she got to the club because of the atmosphere. More and more
of their friends from school started going to the club. The atmosphere of
the KaiserKeller began to change. The Beatles began to spend any spare moment
drinking and talking with Klaus, Astrid, and their friends. Klaus couldn't
understand John's accent, but George spoke slowly and he could understand
him.
After some time, Klaus and Astrid asked the Beatles if they could get
a picture with them. The band had become very friendly with them. John was
rude because he'd say some nasty comments about the Germans right in front
of them. Astrid liked Stuart and wanted to get to know him. She took the
photograph at the Reeperbahn, another club. After she took the photograph,
she asked them to come to her house. All of them took the offer except Pete
Best, who had something else to do. Astrid tried to talk to Stuart, but she
couldn't understand him, so she got Klaus to teach her English.
The Beatles came to her house often for tea. Astrid and Stu were progressing.
Stuart then started coming around without the others. She liked all of the
boys in the band, but she thought Pete was very shy. John was the strongest
one, Paul was friendly and the most popular to the fans, Stuart the most
intelligent, and George was sweet and open about everything.
In November 1960, two months after their first meeting, Stuart and Astrid
got engaged. Stuart wasn't even nineteen years old yet, but he was very mature.
He was still very interested in art, unlike John, who had given up on it.
The relationship between Paul and Stuart was basically competing for John's
attention. They used to get jealous of one another often.
The Beatles had two groups of fans - the rockers and the exis. Christmas
was approaching and the Beatles had been in Hamburg for almost five months.
They wanted to move to a bigger club, The Top Ten. The band asked Peter Eckhorn,
the manager of The Top Ten, for an audition. Peter likedthem alot so he offered
them a contract. George, who was seventeen, wasn't permitted in the club
since he was underage, so he had to go home.
The remaining four Beatles moved to The Top Ten. One night, they started a fire by accident and they were arrested. The next day, John went to Astrid's house to tell her he was going home since his work permit had been taken away. He also had to borrow money for the ticket home. After John left, Stuart decided to leave too. The others followed back to Liverpool. After they returned home, they lost contact for awhile. What had been the best thing that had ever happened to them, had come to an end.