The Beatles’ second job in Germany between playing gigs was extremely important

The Beatles truly kickstarted their career in 1960 when they took on a residency slot in Hamburg, Germany. During these years, the band would play eight hours a day in various clubs around the city. First, they attended The Indra, before moving to the Kaiserkeller, and eventually the Top Ten Club.

These residency slots were transformative for the group. Over the years they regularly played in Germany, the Fab Four honed their craft and became the band that fans would go on to know and love.

They had other responsibilities during their time in Hamburg, however. One of them was a legal requirement that the club owners gave to the Liverpudlian lads to keep their establishment within the confines of the law.

According to 150 Glimpses of The Beatles author Craig Brown (Via Cheat Sheet) the band would halt playing at 10pm every night to make an announcement.

They would say in German: “It is twenty-two hours. We must now make a passport control. All youth under eighteen years must now leave this club.” This mean that, after 10pm all the kids in the venues had to leave.

The Beatles reportedly took on this responsibility to show some interest and willingness in wanting to live like the locals, and to keep their club bosses happy.

They weren’t always on their best behaviour, though. During their stay in Germany, they truly behaved like rockstars. They reportedly drank extremely heavily and regularly popped diet pills to stay awake.

The band also had frequent dalliances with local women, as well. But it was Paul McCartney and the band’s first drummer, Pete Best, who got up to the most mischief. They reportedly set a condom on fire and got caught. They were accused of attempted arson, and were later deported because of it.

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