Who is Astrid Kirchherr

Astrid Kirchherr (born 20 May 1938) is a German photographer and artist and is well known for her association with The Beatles (along with her friends Klaus Voormann and Jürgen Vollmer) and her photographs of The Beatles during their Hamburg days.

Kirchherr met artist Stuart Sutcliffe in the Kaiserkeller bar in Hamburg in 1960, where he was playing bass with The Beatles, and was later engaged to him before his death in 1962.

Although Kirchherr admitted she has taken very few photographs since 1967, her early work has been exhibited in Hamburg, Bremen, London, Liverpool, New York City, Washingto...

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In 1960, Astrid Kirchherr was the 22 year old assistant to photographer Reinhard Wolf, the chief photographic tutor at the art school she attended. Also at the art achool, Astrid had met Klaus Voorman, a talented illustrator, who would become her boyfriend.

One evening Astrid and Klaus argued, and Klaus ended up leaving (he was renting a room at the Kirchherr residence), eventually finding himself in the St Pauli area. Hearing the rock and roll music coming from the Kaiserkeller, he curiously went inside.

Klaus ended up watching the Beatles entire 4 hr set, and immediately went back to tell Astrid of this great experience and begged her to go back with him. Since the St Pauli area was a sordid place where nice girls didn't go, it was several weeks (during which Klaus repeatedly visited the Kaiserkeller) later that Astrid eventually agreed to go with him.

On Astrid's first visit to the Kaiserkeller, she fell in love with Stu Sutcliffe.

NOTE: Klaus Voorman remained a good friend of both Astrid and the Beatles, and he eventually designed the cover for the Beatles album Revolver

Having first heard a new type of music called Rock 'n Roll by a band called The Beatles at the Kaiserkeller, Astrid would become fascinated with them and visit the club every night just to be near them. Kirchherr later asked The Beatles if they would like a photo session, with her as photographer. The Beatles were impressed since all the other groups they knew only had snapshots that were taken by friends. The next morning Kirchherr (with her Rolleicord camera) took photographs at an old fairground in a municipal park which was close to the Reeperbahn.

These early images captured the innocence and ambition of The Beatles, who were only in their late teens early 20s. Kirchherr remembered from that first shoot that "In the early days, they looked quite rough, having their hair combed back with grease, really looking like rock'n'rollers ... So I thought it would suit them the most between all these wagons and steel and rust".

Needless to say, her instincts were correct. Her photos remain as the most poignant images of The Beatles in these early years.

All of Astrid Kirchherr's images are owned by her, and are printed under her supervision from the original negatives, and are availabale only through the Govinda Gallery.

Stuart Sutcliffe and Astrid Kirchherr Photos

The first time I had ever heard of Astrid Kirchherr was while watching 'The Complete Beatles'. Describing The Beatles bleak outlook during their most recent trip to Hamburg, the narrator (Roddy McDowell) states that it was at this time that Stuart (Sutcliffe) decided to stay in Germany with his fiancee Astrid, to paint.

It would be many years later when I came across an advertisement for Liverpool Days, her first book of photographs with Max Scheler, that I found out what her last name was.

Astrid had first met Stuart Sutcliffe during The Beatles early days at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg in early 1960. Kirchherr was later quoted as saying that the beginning of their relationship was, "like one of those fairy stories" and that she immediately fell in love with him. The feeling must have been mutual because Kirchherr and Sutcliffe would get engaged in November 1960. Tragically, on April 10, 1962, only a few days before The Beatles returned to Hamburg, Stuart would die of a brain hemmorage, in Astrid's arms in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Only days later, Astrid would take another series of photographs of The Beatles, including her favorite, John and George - Attic.



All Photographs are Copyrighted by Astrid Kirchherr

Are you the ultimate Beatles fan? Show off your Beatlemania knowledge by answering over 2500 fab questions from 6 categories covering two decades of everything Beatles -- their history, music, movies, rise to fame, post-Beatle pursuits, and more.

Golden Dreams is a collection of balck and white photos Astrid Kirchherr and Max Scheler taken in the Spring of 1964. The book was restricted to a Limited Edition of 2500 copies (mine is #2448). I was also given the choice of which Beatle's image to be on the cover. I chose John Lennon.

The main subject of the book photographs is, naturally, The Beatles, who in the Spring of 1964, were shooting their first feature film "A Hard Days Night".

At this time, The Beatles were at the height of their popularity, BeatleMania was in full force, and they were incredibly busy. As a result, manager Brian Epstein had ruled that they not be bothered by the press. So when Max Scheler and Astrid arrived (Max on assignment from Stern magazine, and Astrid as his assistant) they were granted unparalled access, allowed to accompany The Beatles during their stay.

Astrid, being a friend from their days in Hamburg years earlier spent time catching up with her friends, and also revisiting Liverpool, which she reguards as one of the warmest and friendliest places on Earth.

Several of the photos in Golden Dreams are of the people and sites of Liverpool.