Germany is honoring Taylor Swift ahead of her Eras Tour stop in the city of Gelsenkirchen by renaming it “Swiftkirchen.”
The “Fortnight” singer is scheduled to play three shows in Gelsenkirchen, located five hours away from Berlin, later this month between July 17 and July 19.
German Swiftie Aleshanee Westhoff started the petition to pay tribute to the pop star while she’s in town.
Karin Welge, Mayor of Gelsenkirchen, was sold on the idea.
“It’s a great idea to temporarily rename Gelsenkirchen to ‘Swiftkirchen.’ I’m particularly pleased that you can experience the short-term ‘renaming’ of Gelsenkirchen live and up close in Gelsenkirchen today,” Welge wrote in a news release, according to Google Translate.
“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,” Welge continued.
Markus Schwardtmann, Gelsenkirchen’s head of public relations, noted the city “will be installing many more signs in highly frequented places” in the coming days.
The city will also celebrate Swift’s arrival with a “Taylor Swift tram.”
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In addition to new signs and a special tram, Gelsenkirchen will host “a big open-air Taylor Swift party” dubbed “Taylor Town,” which will include “lots of offers (swap market, karaoke, tattoos) related to the star.”
“There will be many small and large surprises so that the Swifties in Gelsenkirchen have a lot to discover,” Schwardtmann teased.
