Amsterdam remembers John and Yoko's bed-in

The Amsterdam Hilton is opening up to the public the bedroom where John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in 1969 as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of their famous "bed-in for peace".

In all fairness, the Lennon bedroom in the Amsterdam Hilton has always been available to the public. At a price: a one-night stay costs 1,750 euros. But on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the "bed-in", the hotel has decided to relax its policy. Beatles fans can visit the suite - though not to stay in - from March 21 to 29 when a number of Lennon-related events will be taking place.

"During the opening, we have decided to waiver any income from the suite," the hotel's director, Roberto Payer, told German press agency DPA. "We believe we owe that to the memory of John and Yoko's peace action."

John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in the suite from March 24-31, 1969. They vowed to stay in bed for a full week in a "bed-in for peace".

Flower-power

Now, the hotel is supporting a number of events associated with the bed-in. An exhibition titled "From Holland with peace" will run from March 21-29, and a special Lennon memorial day with live music is planned for March 29. Another exhibition, "Imagine: the art of John Lennon", is produced by Yoko Ono and will be the largest exhibition ever held of John Lennon’s art, according to the organisers.

Together with two colleagues, Dutch journalist Jan van Galen has written a book, In bed with John and Yoko, on the event that has become part of the world's collective memory.

"This story has never been written about properly," says Van Galen. "An awful lot has been written about the Beatles, but in all the thick volumes of books on John Lennon and the Beatles usually only one page is dedicated to the bed-in. We thought it would be a good idea to look up everybody who was involved. Why were they there, what did they do, who did they speak to, what happened?"

In the song The Ballad of John and Yoko, which was recorded in April 1969, John Lennon sang about travelling from Paris to Amsterdam to lie in bed for a week and protest for peace:

At the time, Lennon and Ono had just gotten married in a private ceremony in Gibraltar. They were on their honeymoon in a Paris when they were approached by a Dutchman, Hans Boskamp, who worked for a record company. Boskamp talked Lennon into coming to Amsterdam to hold a peace protest.

Hans Boskamp: "He was incredibly preoccupied with the Vietnam war. When he said to me: 'I want to do something, demonstrate against the war,' I said: 'Then you should go to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, the flower-power movement is in full swing'. 'That's a good idea,' he said, 'you look for a good hotel and we will do the rest'."

John Lennon was at the height of his fame, and the bed-in attracted massive attention from the international media. Judging by the photos in Van Galen's book, it looks like most journalists were in considerable awe of the famous couple. But according to the author there were critical voices as well.

Van Galen: "Some people thought it was fantastic, even the journalists. But others said: 'What does this mean for God's sake? What is the point of lying in an expensive hotel when you are extremely rich? Do you want everyone to do the same? Will that stop the Vietnam War? No, it won't.'"

But the bed-in did have an enormous impact, says Van Galen. "At the end of the 1960s, there were several anti-authoritarian movements, lots of protests, students rebelled. It was a time of protest and of course it was a Beatle who was lying there and the Beatles were incredibly popular."

Misplaced negatives

Ultimately, Lennon and Ono didn't achieve their goal of world peace. But their message still resounds even with people who weren't born in 1969.

"Everbody seems to know about John and Yoko at the Hilton, including people who are way too young to remember. I wasn't expecting that," says gallery owner and photographer Nico Koster. Forty years ago, Koster photographed Lennon and Ono for the Dutch daily De Telegraaf. Koster's daughter recently discovered a series of misplaced negatives from the shoot; they are now part of an exhibition at Koster's art gallery in Amsterdam.

Another photographer, Govert de Roos, was 15-years old when he bluffed himself into room 902 of the Hilton in 1969. De Roos draws a parallel between then and now.

"Back then we were also angry at capitalism. At profit maximisation. At the divide between rich and poor. And we were also engaged in senseless wars. Do you remember the 30th anniversary of the bed-in? It went unnoticed because the zeitgeist was too far apart from everything that Lennon stood for. Today, the message is just as relevant again as it was in 1969. Why? Because of the mess we've gotten ourselves into."

Room 902 has since become room 702, and the Hilton is marketing it as "the John and Yoko Honeymoon Suite." Couples can also wed there in a civil ceremony. The walls and windows are decorated with slogans the pair used during the bed-in as well as black and white photos taken by the press at the time. The suite's sound system is packed full of Lennon's songs from Imagine to Give Peace a Chance.

However, the bed is not the original. The Hilton has replaced it with a replica that "conforms to modern comfort demands".