Fehmarn heritage of jimi hendrix in danger

Actually, the "Woodstock" of Europe was to be celebrated on Fehmarn in September 1970. But instead of the stars, heavy rain came 40 years ago and washed away the hippie dreams. Of the announced mega-stars, only Jimi Hendrix came on stage. It was his last festival performance – twelve days later he was dead. Now the Jimi Hendrix Revival Festival is also threatened with death.

"Love and Peace" promised the announced super festival on Fehmarn at that time. In the lonely west of the Baltic Sea island, on the beach of Flugge, the hippie party of 4. to 6. September 1970 rise. Tickets were available, among other places, in the sex stores of Beate Uhse. 60.000 rock fans and hippies were to be lured to the island with prominent names such as Procul Harum, Ten Years After and Rod Stewart. But when, the night before, almost 200 Hells Angels rockers were themselves deployed as "stewards" after provoked brawls with hippies and stewards, the dream of "Love and Peace" was over.

In pouring rain, blues singer and emcee Alexis Korner opened the festival on Friday and immediately had to announce the cancellation of the groups Taste and Colloseum. When Procul Harum and Ten Years After also dropped out later, the mood of the 25 or so participants sank.000 music fans to the freezing point. Inga Rumpf with Frumpy, Ginger Baker and Mungo Jerry together with a blue sky later lightened the mood a bit.

The sunny highlight on Sunday was the performance of Jimi Hendrix, who presented hits such as "Hey Joe" and "Voodoo Chile". After that, he performed only once more with Eric Burdon in a London club before he was released on 18 September. September dead in a hotel took place. The 27-year-old had choked on his vomit with a high dose of alcohol and medication.

Because of guideline threatens ban
Financially, the festival was a flop, especially since the organizers also ran out of cash. Nevertheless, the Fehmarners had such fond memories of the festival that they founded the Jimi Hendrix Revival Festival in 1995. Since then every year at the Flugger beach is rocked without star airs. Admission is free, and the local helpers work on a voluntary basis. About 20.000 visitors have already been counted. After all, guitarist Alvin Lee of Ten Years After came to Fehmarn in this way, and Inga Rumpf and Mungo Jerry repeated their performances with success.

Also this year it will be loud on Fehmarn. 14 international bands have signed up for Friday and Saturday (3./4. September) were announced, including Wolf Maahn, The Brew from Great Britain, Jimmy Bowskill from Canada and The Rusties from Italy. But it could be the last revival festival. Because the site is protected under the Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive, the nature conservation authority no longer wants to approve the event. After the ban by the district administration in the spring, there was a reprieve for this year.

But organizer J.J. Krohn does not want to give up. If necessary he wants to save the festival with the help of the courts. Fans are always left with a memorial on Fehmarn. As a reminder of Jimi Hendrix" last performance, a granite stone more than two meters high was erected on Flugger beach in 1997. He shows Hendrix" guitar, although without strings. As a photo motif, it attracts island tourists even during storms and rain. Instead of booming Hendrix riffs, however, they hear seagull cries at best: The Jimi Hendrix memorial stone now stands in the nature reserve.