The Beatles first visit to Germany

On August 16, 1960 the five members of The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, along with manager Allan Williams, his wife Beryl, her brother Barry Chang and friend Lord Woodbine embarked on the journey from Liverpool to Hamburg, Germany. The van was cramped and didn't have enough seats so The Beatles had to sit on their amplifiers.

They set off from the Jacaranda club in Williams' green Austin van, stopping off in London to pick up Herr Steiner, an Austrian working in the Heaven and Hell coffee shop on Old Compton Street, who was to be the Hamburg promoter Bruno Koschmider's interpreter. They then caught the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.

After arriving in Holland, they ended up in Arnhem after Williams took a wrong turning. While there they visited the war memorial and spent time wandering around the town centre. Whilst there they visited a music shop, from which John Lennon stole a harmonica.