Hamburg embracing Beatles to boost tourism

HAMBURG, Germany, May 31 (UPI) -- Residents of Hamburg say the German city is attempting to fight a decline in tourism by embracing its famed former residents: the Beatles.

Hamburg resident Horst Fascher said when the famed British band lived in Hamburg in 1960, they made quite an impression, The Times of London reported Saturday.

"They were like five wild animals in those days," Fascher said. "They didn't really know how to live away from home -- they didn't know how to go out to a restaurant or wash their clothes."

To honor the Beatles, Hamburg has opened a museum dedicated to the "Yellow Submarine" rock group and has renamed a local square Beatles Platz.

The Times said visitors to Hamburg can now take tours of the new sites and learn more about the band's members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, not to mention former drummer Pete Best and original Beatles bassist Stu Sutcliffe.

"It was time that Hamburg paid tribute to this talented band," Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust said.