PALETTE . Hamburg. February of 1958

PALETTE. In the 50’s and early 60’s, Palette, in the still destroyed center of Hamburg, was the essential hangout for ‘Exis’ or ‘Existentialists’, who were more or less a mix between Beatniks and Mods. The Palette was more like a pub, but maybe with the first jukebox in Hamburg playing records by Elvis or Cool Jazz and French Chansons.
The crowd was a bizarre mix of art students, gangsters, dropouts, bohemians and sometimes the motorcycle rockers from another Pub next door.The first ‘happenings’ were held here, with young authors and poets like Hubert Fichte who used to read or improvise lyrics to Jazz music just like the Beats in San Francisco.The man with the cane (photo) is Simos Tsapnidis, the leader of Greek Existentialists.