Press conference in Salzburg

This interview remains the property of the respective copyright owner, and no implication of ownership by us is intended or should be inferred. Any copyright owner who wants something removed should contact us and we will do so immediately.

Two days after returning to London from the Bahamas, where “Help!” had been filmed from February 23 to March 9, 1965, The Beatles boarded the 11am flight from London Airport to Salzburg, Austria, to continue production on their second feature film.

Approximately four thousand fans were present at Salzburg Airport upon their arrival, alongside dozens of journalists. The Beatles held a press conference at a nearby hotel following their arrival.

Crowds gathered on all four sides of the hotel as The Beatles met with more than one hundred representatives of the international press. West German television, representing an audience of 22 million viewers, covered both the arrival and the press conference.

Hundreds of Salzburg police were deployed to control the crowds at the airport and the hotel. During the press conference, The Beatles answered several questions in German, drawing on the language skills acquired during their engagements in Hamburg prior to their international success.

Following the press conference, they travelled to the village of Obertauern, where the Austrian filming sequences would take place.

On 13th March, 1965, the Beatles arrived in Austria to film the snow and mountain sequences for “Help!” They landed at Salzburg-Maxglahn Airport at 14.18 hours to be greeted by a big crowd of Austrian fans. There was a small anti-Beatles band of protesters wearing armbands with the words “Beatles Go Home” on them, who tried very hard to interrupt everything, but they were drowned by the enthusiastic welcome that the boys received as soon as they appeared in the doorway of their ‘plane.

The moment John spotted the welcoming crowds he pushed his way to the front and started conducting the welcoming cheers as though the crowd was some huge orchestra. After pausing for a moment on the plane steps for the benefit of the battery of waiting cameramen, the Beatles jumped into a white Ford Limousine and sped off for their first press conference in the Osterreichischer Hof hotel in Salzburg trailed by all the reporters and photographers. The press followed everywhere they went in Austria and every move they made must have been photographed a thousand times. We’d never seen anything like it before!

After their first press conference the Beatles started to drive to Obertauern, but stopped in a small village called Werfen on the way to have lunch in one of our local alpine restaurants. 

Rudolf Aigmüller – A Beatles fan who followed the filming of “Help!” in Austria – From The Beatles Monthly Book – May 1985

We are all very tired, have been travelling all day. Immediately we had landed in Salzburg there had been a crowded press conference—and the usual Beatle repartee:

Question: Do you realise that you are in Salzburg, Mozart’s birthplace?

Answer, John: Sure, we know. How is he?

Question: If you had bacon and eggs and toast and marmalade for breakfast and then had coffee and rolls, a typical continental breakfast, which would you prefer?

Answer, Ringo: We don’t understand German jokes.

Appearance on the balcony, later, outside their room, waving and clowning for hundreds of teenagers, hundreds of happy, smiling, waving, welcoming Austrian kids. An interesting note: a group of boys had a poster at the airport saying, “Beatles Go Home!”—jealous, probably, of their girlfriends’ love of the Beatles. A picture of that poster, and not of the hundreds of welcoming fans, appeared in our British press.

Victor Spinetti – Actor – From RAVE Magazine – May 1965

The below transcript of the press conference is reproduced from Meet the Beatles for Real: Austrian Press Conference: “I found the transcript of the press conference in a teenage magazine.   The page is falling out, but I was able to save it enough to read it and type it up!” The exact source is not mentioned.

Austrian Press Conference
By Nels Kridjen

Salzburg, Austria, the old world center of musical culture, the birthplace of Mozart, was rocked to its castle top rafters by the arrival of the foursome.

Crowds gathered on all four sides of the Oesterreicher Hof Hotel while the famed quartet held a conference with more 100 representatives of the international press.  West German television, representing 22 million viewers covered the arrival and the conference.   Hundreds of Salzburg police were assigned to control the crowds at the airport and the hotel.  In some instances the Beatles answered the questions in German which they picked up during their engagement in Hamburg before world fame swept them off.  Here ae some highlights from the conference.

Q:  Do you ever go to a hairdresser?

John:  No.  They always come to us.

Q:  Did you know that Salzburg is the home of Mozart?

Ringo:  Oh, is he here too?

Q:  How much income tax do you pay?

George:  Too much.

Q:  Whom did you vote for the last general election?

Paul:  Adenauer.

Q:  Are the Beatles a threat to public safety?

Beatles:  Rubbish!  Rubbish!  Rubbish!

Q:  What is the difference between the Beatles reception in America and the reception in other countries.

Beatles:  America is wilder because there are more people there.

Q:  Now that you’re successful will you cut your hair?

Paul:  We had it like this before we became successful.

Q:  How do you like girls to dress Ringo?  And don’t’ say ha…ha…ha….

Ringo:  Oh, I dunno–in dresses.  I don’t like ’em in pants.

Q:  Do the Beatles like Austrian beer?

Beatles:  No.  We never do commercials.

Paul:  We’re good friends.

John:  Anybody from the press here?

Q: Did John write the script of the new ;movie?

John:  No.

Q:  Out of all the myths and rumors surrounding the Beatles in the fan magazines, which ones annoy you the most?

John:  The ones about my wife having more children than I can account for.

Q:  What do the Beatles think of topless bathing suits?

Paul:  We’ve been wearing them for years.

Q:  Do you think you can sway political power?

Beatles:  Most of our fans are too young to vote.

Q:  Why don’t you wave to your fans outside the hotel?

Beatles:  We were told not to appear at or look out of the windows.

Q:  Which of the Beatles is married?

(Everybody in the room under 20 went  “Jooooohn and Ringooooo as the two Beatles raised their hands.)

Q:  Which ones of the Beatles are not married?

(Paul and George raised their hands.  Some people in the room mostly the young girls, seemed to have doubts about Paul.)

Paul:  I’m not married as Mr. Winchell says.

Q:  What are your plans for the future?

Ringo:  No plans.  We’ll just see what happens.

Q:  Last night the police were concerned about some over sized  roughnecks who tired to infiltrate the crowd…

Beatles:  That was us!

Q:  (From girl under ten)  What does George think about marriage?

George:   Yeah, well, if you propose it to me.  It’s a good thing if you like it.

Q:   What do you plan to do with your leisure time in Austria?

Beatles:  What leisure time?

Q:  Was “Eight Arms to Hold you” improvised?

John:  Some of the scenes started out spontaneous but by the time you do take Eleven it’s not improvised any longer.

Q:  A psychiatrist who saw one of your concerts said it was unhealthy and had an erotic effect on the audience.

Beatles:  He was unhealthy.

Following the conference the Beatles took the snow-covered roads to Obertauern, one of the highest peaks in the Austrian Alps, where key scenes were filmed.  During the two and one half hours drive, the lads passed through numerous small towns and were greeted by hordes of screaming and waving fans, who had been waiting in the village streets for hours.

Going further

• https://www.beatlestracks.com/beatles-place-austria-salzburg-sacher-hotel/