Original contract for Beatles Hamburg residency set to fetch £30k at auction

The original contract for The Beatles to perform at one of their Hamburg residencies will fetch up to £30,000 at auction, it is expected.

Drummer Pete Best played in the band’s first stint at the Star-Club from April 13 to May 31 1962 after previous trips to the then West German city to hone their craft. The Beatles played the opening night of the new club which had a capacity for 2,000 people.

When The Beatles returned in November 1962, Ringo Starr was the drummer after their manager Brian Epstein sacked Best three months earlier.

The contract for the residence between November 1 and 14 stipulated The Beatles would perform three hours a day in separate stints with an hour’s break after every performance.

The group went on to perform seven days a week with a weekly payment of 600 Deutsche Marks (DM) to each band member.

In total, they played for 42 hours and also shared a bill with Little Richard.

The contract was signed in black ink by Epstein and in black felt-tipped pen by Star-Club owner Manfred Weissleder.

They had another residency at the Star-Club from December 18 to New Year’s Eve 1962 before stardom followed.

The contract, from the estate of Mr Weissleder, will go on sale at an online Beatles memorabilia auction which runs from September 27 to October 6.

More details about this Beatles contract are available here.

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