Munich and rock music? That’s not something you’d associate with the Isar metropolis. Bavaria is famous for its Oktoberfest culture and chic nightclubs, which you’re unlikely to enter in sneakers. But Munich still offers more than just that: alternative venues such as Bahnwärter Thiel are known beyond the city limits, and Blitz is notorious for its outstanding electronic music. And Munich is also a hotspot for rock fans – or rather, it used to be. The Big Apple Club shaped Germany’s rock culture in the 60s and 70s like no other.
Munich’s nightlife around 50 years ago was hardly comparable to that of today. In the middle of Schwabing was the center of southern German beat and rock culture: the Big Apple Club was located at Leopoldstraße 25. The nightclub was named after the discotheque of the same name in Berlin, which mainly played soul music. This was initially also the case in Munich before the club turned into a hotspot for rock music.
Wild times in the swinging sixties
The Big Apple Club was a meeting place for international bands and celebrities. Over time, the disco also turned into a concert hall. For this purpose, beer tables were simply tied together and converted into stages. And whoever stood on them was a sight to behold: The Yardbirds, The Animals and even Deep Purple played their concerts here!
In November 1966, the Big Apple Club made music history. Jimi Hendrix, who was still unknown at the time, gave his first performance in Germany here. And his experiences in the discotheque left their mark on him: When the enthusiastic audience tried to pull him off the stage, Jimi Hendrix broke his guitar on stage while trying to escape. The audience took it as part of the show and became all the more frenetic. Thus the band’s trademark was born: the destruction of his guitar.
Experience the course of the world at the Big Apple Club
Uschi Obermaier was also a regular at the Big Apple Club. She even said of the disco: “If I didn’t go to the Big Apple one night, I thought I’d missed the course of the world.” She met Jimi Hendrix there, with whom she began a love affair.
The legendary club turned into a real celebrity hotspot, as it still is today in other places in Munich. After 12 glamorous years , however, the Big Apple was closed in 1975. Various gastronomic concepts tried out the premises, such as the “Lacant”. Today, the Mint Club is located there.