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December 8 marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Once a layover in Zurich didn’t quite go according to plan.
John Lennon at Zurich Airport in January 1965 – has to follow an enthusiastic customs officer to make a customs declaration.
Photo: Eric Bachmann
“Dismay at the murder of John Lennon”: That’s what the “Tages-Anzeiger” wrote on December 10, 1980 on the cover. In the late afternoon of December 8, the musician was there. John LennonCo-founder of the legendary Beatles, he was shot dead in front of his apartment in New York, he was 40 years old.
The perpetrator, Mark David Chapman, 25, was arrested shortly after and later sentenced to life in prison, which he continues to serve. The bloody act caused consternation around the world. “US President Carter was saddened, his successor Reagan called Lennon’s assassination a great tragedy,” the TA reported at the time.
Even 40 years later, music collector and rock journalist Sam Mumenthaler (59) can still remember this day well. “My father woke me up and told me that John Lennon had been shot,” he says. The next day he dressed all in black.
Due to two bottles of whiskey: John Lennon and his wife Cynthia are stopped by a customs officer at the Kloten airport.
Photo: Eric Bachmann
Mumenthaler owns one extensive collection on the history of Swiss pop, including records, photos and posters. It also contains finds from foreign bands and musicians who visited Switzerland. For example, photographs of a visit by John Lennon in late January 1965 to the Zurich-Kloten airport, taken at the time by press and reportage photographer Eric Bachmann (1940-2019).
On the way to your ski holiday in St. Moritz
“Lennon spent winter break with his wife, Cynthia, in St. Moritz from January 25 to February 7, 1965,” explains Mumenthaler. But the arrival at the Zurich airport did not quite meet his expectations. Rather, Lennon was stopped by a jealous tax collector.
Because Eric Bachmann had shot precisely these scenes, he was able to sell his images to the German teen magazine “OK”. “Swiss customs are arresting John Lennon,” read the photo report entitled “The secret in the shopping network.”
The original report: “Everyone is equal before the law. John Lennon felt this when he recently wanted to travel to Switzerland with his wife Cynthia. Customs stopped him for two bottles of whiskey. No entry. John got into a fight. Nobody heard it. Customs have their rules. And after all, the Beat Kings do not have a diplomatic passport with which one can go unchecked everywhere.
Cashless Beatle had to go to the exchange office
Lennon is also said to have halted the entire customs operation “at Zurich airport”. Because he had no francs. Customs officials showed little understanding for this. “They didn’t deliver their two bottles of whiskey. The cashless Beatle was sent to the exchange office. So he changed a few francs and paid his whiskey tax. “
John Lennon exchanging money at Zurich airport, January 1965.
Photo: Eric Bachmann
“The article describes the scene well, Eric told me the story like this,” says his nephew Dominik Bachmann, who manages the farm.
Eric Bachmann He was born in Zurich in 1940 and completed a three-year apprenticeship in photography. From 1959 he was involved in the creation of the photography department of the Swiss television network DRS, but left his permanent position in 1962 and worked as a freelance photographer. He then made informational trips to all continents, his work appeared in various magazines and newspapers, he also published books and exhibited his works on Shetland, Leningrad and the ’68.
Asked about Swiss German
Eric Bachmann gave more details about Lennon’s appearance at Zurich airport, as his nephew Dominik says. The record company had only called him the day before and told him that the star would land in Kloten with his wife Cynthia and asked if he could take exclusive photos. From today’s perspective, it’s hard to believe that he was the only photographer in the place.
John Lennon and his wife Cynthia during passport control at Zurich airport.
Photo: Eric Bachmann
The photographer also recalled something special about Lennon’s meeting with the customs officer. The customs officer told Lennon in Swiss German that he had to fork out the amount. And: “The officer had no idea who he was looking at, he just repeated what he said.”
And John? “First he lit a cigarette.”
The German magazine “OK” reported on the incident at the Zurich airport in 1965.
Photo: Samuel Mumenthaler Collection
