The Star-Club opened as a music club on Friday 13 April 1962 at Große Freiheit 39, just off the Reeperbahn in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg, amongst the bordellos, strip shows and greasy spoons.
The club – a former cinema with a capacity of 2,000 people – was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. The duo ripped out the cinema-style seating and replaced it with clusters of horseshoe lounge sofas and two bars along the back wall. Upstairs was a balcony where one could sit and listen without watching and dancing.
The club closed on 15 November 1969 due to rising costs. The building it occupied was destroyed by a fire in 1987.
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The club – a former cinema with a capacity of 2,000 people – was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. The duo ripped out the cinema-style seating and replaced it with clusters of horseshoe lounge sofas and two bars along the back wall. Upstairs was a balcony where one could sit and listen without watching and dancing.
Soon, The Star-Club acquired legendary status all over the world. In the seven years of its existence, the Star-Club played host to musicians including The Beatles, The Big Three, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, The Searchers, The Remo Four, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, The Liverbirds, The Undertakers, Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Brenda Lee, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, The Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Cream, The Pretty Things, The Monks, Black Sabbath and The Twilights.
