The
Yellow Submarine, also called
Haifischdisko ("Shark disco"), opened on April 2, 1971 as part of a complex that was completed in 1973 with the avant-garde Schwabylon shopping and leisure centre. The concept of the discotheque was a sensation in Europe at that time, and it became famous overnight throughout Germany. The
Yellow Submarine was located south of the Schwabylon and became a bestseller for the adjoining hotel. In the first years the discotheque recorded peak sales. The name of the nightclub referred to the
Beatles song from 1966. The three-storey nightclub was surrounded by an
aquarium like a
diving bell, through portholes the patrons could watch 36
sharks and
giant turtles that had been caught in the
Gulf of Mexico and swam here in 650,000 litres (171,711 gallons) of
seawater. In June 1971 the aquarium overflowed once and flooded the venue. As it was Sunday morning and the club was empty nobody was hurt, and the sharks could swim in all three floors of the discotheque. The interior design of the club was reminiscent of a
submarine, with leather seats, iron railings and a staircase connecting three floors in an open, nine-metre high space. The entrance fee of the Yellow Submarine was 6 German
marks, and the gastronomic offer included
shark fin soup and grilled shark. In later years the nightclub was renamed to
Aquarius, and it closed in 1982. The building was demolished in 2013 for the construction of the
Schwabinger Tor building complex, after a citizens' initiative had unsuccessfully tried to save the discotheque as a
monument. == In popular culture ==