It seems even the Beatles are not safe from the Eurozone crisis. Beatlemania, an exhibition in Hamburg that hoped to be a pilgrimage for Fab Four fanatics, is closing its doors owing to lack of interest and spiralling debts.

The museum, located on the Reeperbahn strip near where the band played their legendary early shows, opened in May 2009. It boasted more than 1,000 pieces of Beatles memorabilia over five floors and 1,300 square metres of exhibition space. But since opening it has attracted just 150,000 visitors, way below expectations. It will close on 30 June. Some exhibits could be put into storage, but others may be dismantled. The yellow submarine jutting from the front of the building will be removed.

Manager Folkert Koopmans told Hamburger Morgenpost: "In view of the high deficits, there is no solution left but closure, if you want to act responsibly. A privately run museum as big as Beatlemania is condemned to fail without public support. That's a fact we fought against until enthusiasm turned into resignation – a bitter experience. We had many hopes and wishes, unfortunately, only some of them were fulfilled in the city [in] which John Lennon used to say he became an adult."

The Beatles famously cut their teeth in the city between 1960 and 1962, regularly playing at venues such as the Star-Club, Kaiserkeller, Top Ten and Indra. The museum follows the story of the band from those early days to beyond their break-up through a display of original exhibits, interactive features and fan memorabilia.