The first signage that marks the entrance to “Swiftkirchen” has also been installed. (File)
Gelsenkirchen, a city in western Germany, is temporarily renaming itself “Swiftkirchen” in honour of Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour shows. The city’s mayor, Karin Welge, approved the proposal ahead of the popstar’s performances from July 17-19.
Taylor Swift is set to perform at three concerts in Gelsenkirchen, and thousands of her fans, known as ‘Swifties,’ are expected to attend. The city is preparing for the events by putting up signs with the new name, which translates to “Swift’s Church.”
The decision to temporarily change the city’s name was taken after Aleshanee Westhoff from Emmerich, a fan of Taylor, started a petition and even wrote to Mayor Welge about this.
“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,” Mr Welge said in a letter to Westhoff, according to an official release.
Also, the first signage that marks the entrance to “Swiftkirchen” has also been installed by Westhoff on Ebertstrasse, the release stated.
Markus Schwardtmann, the head of the city’s public relations department, said, “Today is the starting signal. We will be installing many more signs in highly frequented places in Gelsenkirchen in the coming days”.
Besides, a “Taylor Swift tram” from Bogestra is already said to be on the road and will be making an attractive selfie motif, the release said, while highlighting the red frames that have been set up all over the city.
Taylor Swift will also receive her own stone on the Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame, alongside local notables like soccer coach Rudi Assauer and writer Ilse Kibgis.
“There will be many small and large surprises so that the Swifties in Gelsenkirchen have a lot to discover,” Mr Schwardtmann said.
Not just that, the German city will even be hosting a “big open-air Taylor Swift party,” which has been named “Taylor Town”. It will feature “lots of offers (swap market, karaoke, tattoos) related to the star.”
“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. International attention will therefore be back on our city immediately after EURO 2024,” Mayor Welge said in the official statement.
Taylor Swift is used to such adulation. At the beginning of the Eras Tour in March last year, Arizona’s Glendale was temporarily renamed as “Swift City” in honour of the singer’s tour stop in the city.
