Beatles-Platz opens in Hamburg

On September 11th, at 1 p.m. the First Mayor of Hamburg Ole von Beust will open the world's first Beatles-Platz. At 2 p.m. the Platz will be opened to the public. The monument for the world's most famous band is being build on Reeperbahn at the corner to Große Freiheit. For initiators Stephan Heller of Hamburg's radio station Oldie 95, Uriz von Oertzen and Frank Otto, both Hamburg businessmen, a dream is becoming true. After seven years of planning the City of Hamburg finally will receive a point of cultural and historical attraction which will no doubt become a new tourist highlight.

Thanks to donations of the people of Hamburg as well as the fans of the Beatles throughout the world, the financing of the project became possible. Moreover, major Hamburg companies, builders and contractors contributed large amounts of money. In addition to this, the Hamburg Ministry of Urban Development and Environment, the District Authority and the District Assembly of Hamburg-Mitte agreed to pay for half the costs. In total, costs of the Beatles-Platz amounted to 550,000 EUROs.

The draft of the Beatles-Platz has been made by Hamburg architects Franzis Stich and Carsten Dohse. The monument is showing an oversized turntable with a diameter of 29 meters. The concrete pavement of the Platz is covered with a luxurious and long lasting layer of black granite. The Platz has a stroboscope rim, with more than 100 high-tech square lights which are inserted into the ground. Furthermore, high-quality steel plates in which 70 tracks of the Beatles are engraved have been put into the grooves of the record. Life-size sculptures of the famous musicians made of stainless steel are the eye-catcher on the square. Thus, visitors can act as if they are posing with the Beatles.