Taylor Swift is so powerful that multiple cities have now changed their names when she has passed through town with her blockbusting Eras Tour.
The latest spot to get in on the fun is Gelsenkirchen in Germany, whose mayor has agreed to temporarily rename the city Swiftkirchen while the popstar is in town — between 17 and 19 July.
Even sweeter is the story behind the move: young Swiftie Aleshanee Westhoff actually started a petition for the renaming and wrote to Mayor Karin Welge to make it happen.
The mayor thought it was a great initiative, and ~swiftly~ agreed. "It's a great idea to temporarily rename Gelsenkirchen to 'Swiftkirchen,' which is why I'm particularly pleased that you can experience the short-term 'renaming' of Gelsenkirchen live and up close in Gelsenkirchen today," the mayor said in a letter to Aleshanee (as described on the city's official website).
#Gelsenkirchen becomes #Swiftkirchen! 😉🤩Gelsenkirchen freut sich auf Mega-Star Taylor Swift und all die Swifties, die vom 17. bis 19. Juli in unsere Stadt kommen! Was Swifties erwarten können, erfahrt ihr hier 👉 https://t.co/DnRiDr3kZl pic.twitter.com/hLDKttpvb4July 2, 2024
To mark the move, a first sign has been placed in the city that reads "Swiftkirchen" with Taylor's face on it, plus symbols related to her Eras. More signs will be placed in high-traffic areas soon.
But the city's officials haven't stopped at the renaming: they're so excited about the idea that they're also hosting a big outdoor Taylor Swift party for fans who weren't lucky enough to nab tickets to the event.
"As mayor, I am of course very happy that Taylor Swift, currently the most successful singer in the world, will be performing three times in Gelsenkirchen," said Mayor Welge. "International attention will therefore be back on our city immediately after EURO 2024."
The UK's own Liverpool made a similar move when Taylor performed there in June, temporarily renaming itself "Taylor Town," as did Glendale, Arizona (Swift City), a street in Arlington, Texas (Taylor Swift Way), and Minneapolis, Minnesota (Swiftie-apolis), among others, per Billboard.
Taylor fever is real, people.
Arlington is “Enchanted” to welcome Taylor Swift to @ATTStadium for The Eras Tour and has put together some fun ways for our Swifties to celebrate the singer’s 5th visit to The #AmericanDreamCity: https://t.co/quuTJ7xPS2#TSTheErasTour #TSTheErasTourArlington #TaylorSwiftWay pic.twitter.com/5cFDO7aZC5March 31, 2023
